
Scientists have identified a class of materials that could prospectively be used for developing even higher power batteries. The team, from the University of Cambridge, used materials that had a complex crystalline structure and discovered that lithium ions pass through them at rates far exceeding those of conventional electrode materials, which translates into a battery that charges considerably faster. Such materials, called niobium tungsten oxides, do not lead to higher energy densities upon being used under typical cycling rates. However,…