New technology extends lithium-ion battery life

A Japanese company called Eamex claims it has found a way [JP] to increase the life of high-capacity lithium-ion batteries (that can be used in electric vehicles). Eamex says the new batteries can be charged and discharged over 10,000 times. Apparently, they can last about 20 years, too.

The main idea is to stabilize the electrodes and prevent the deterioration of tin, making the batteries withstand repeated charges. The batteries have a negative electrode that incorporates a tin-coated resin and accumulates lithium ions coming from the positive electrode. The positive electrode is made of silicon and tin and swells while generating the ions.

As a result, the repeated charging and discharging causes the binding between particles in the tin to weaken, but Eamex’s technology helps to effectively maintain the bonding among those particles.

The company says it plans to introduce a lithium-ion battery with a power density of 10,000 W/kg by the end of this year. The battery could be used to power electric scooters, for example. Eamex also claims batteries based on their technology have “extremely positive” cost effects (without giving specific details), which isn’t hard to believe given their lifespan.

[CrunchGear via The Nikkei]

New Bluetooth Runs for a Year Off a Watch Battery [Bluetooth]

There's little stopping Bluetooth from making its way into more devices, but its battery drain is many times that of, say, tried and true IR. But a new, lower power Bluetooth is coming next year.
By Texas Instruments, a new, 6mm-square Bluetooth system-on-a-chip can operate for 'more than a year' on a small button-cell battery (like you see in watches or very tiny remotes). Everything from cellphones to laptops could get a battery boost from the technology, but low power, low cost Bluetooth also opens to door to sticking the technology in more places, too (imagine an RF remote or console controller that you don't need to recharge).
It'll be interesting to see how many companies adopt the new tech when it's available next year, along with how many side with the latest developments in Wi-Fi instead.

[Gizmodo via Texas Instruments and Press Release]