20240923|新型电池设计或将提高功率和容量（上）

In their quest to build a better battery, researchers have blazed a trail through the elements of the periodic table.

为了制造出更好的电池，研究人员在元素周期表中开辟了一条新路。

The earliest prototype cells ran on nickel and cadmium; successors have used everything from zinc and iron to sodium and lead.

最早的原型电池使用镍和镉；后来的电池使用了从锌和铁到钠和铅的各种元素。

All have had what it takes to serve as a cathode for a battery: namely, an ability to have electrons ripped away from their atoms to be turned into electric current, leaving positively charged ions behind.

所有这些元素都具备作为电池阴极的条件：即能够将电子从原子中剥离出来，转化为电流，留下带正电的离子。

For the past four decades, though, it is lithium that has beaten all comers.

然而，在过去的四十年里，锂战胜了所有竞争对手。

Lightweight and reactive, it serves as an ideal cathode component; lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are widely used in electricity grids and can be found in most of the world's electric vehicles.

锂重量轻、反应性好，是理想的阴极组件；锂离子(Li-ion)电池广泛应用于电网，世界上大多数电动汽车都使用锂离子电池。

So effective are lithium-based cathodes that scientists hoping to make batteries better and more powerful are turning their attention instead to the other, long-overshadowed components of cells. Those efforts are starting to pay off.

锂基阴极非常有效，希望使电池更好、更强大的科学家将注意力转向了其他长期被忽视的电池组件。这些努力开始见效。

As important as a cell's cathode, but much less studied, is the anode, the electrode where electrons reunite with their host atoms while a battery charges (during discharge, the electrons and ions reunite at the cathode).

阳极与电池的阴极一样重要，但研究较少，阳极是电池充电时电子与其宿主原子重新结合的电极（放电时，电子和离子在阴极重新结合）。

While electrons flow between the electrodes through a wire, the movement of ions is made possible only by a carefully chosen electrolyte, a conductive medium in which both electrodes sit.

虽然电子通过导线在电极之间流动，但离子的移动只有通过精心选择的电解质（两个电极都位于其中的导电介质）才有可能。

Another component is the current collector, which lives up to its name by ensuring any electricity generated is delivered to the circuit, rather than going to waste.

另一个组件是集电器，它名副其实，确保产生的任何电能都输送到电路中，而不是浪费掉。

Each is ripe for improvement. The ideal anode material must, among other things, be able to absorb lithium ions.

每个组件都有待改进。理想的阳极材料必须能够吸收锂离子。

Graphite has thus far been the ideal candidate, but scientists are now trying to replace it with silicon, which is both cheaper and more absorbent.

迄今为止，石墨一直是理想的候选材料，但科学家们现在正试图用更便宜、吸收性更强的硅来代替它。

The amount of energy that it can store by weight is about ten times higher than graphite, too.

按重量计算，它可以储存的能量也比石墨高出约十倍。

When silicon anodes charge, though, the incoming lithium ions cause them to swell quickly, eventually leading to cracks. Several companies are looking for a fix.

然而，当硅阳极充电时，进入的锂离子会导致它们迅速膨胀，最终导致裂缝。几家公司正在寻找解决方案。

American battery-component startups such as Sila Nano and Group14 have developed composite materials that embed molecules of silicon into a web of carbon molecules.

美国电池组件初创公司Sila Nano和Group14开发出了将硅分子嵌入碳分子网中的复合材料。

This would be able to contain the swelling. Sila Nano's product will boost the energy density of Li-ion batteries by between 20% and 40%; Group14's will increase it by as much as 50%.

这样可以抑制膨胀。Sila Nano的产品将使锂离子电池的能量密度提高20%至40%；Group14的产品将使能量密度提高50%。

Amprius Technologies, a company based in Fremont, California, is opting for anodes built from hundreds of nanowires of pure silicon, each surrounded by empty space into which it can expand.

总部位于加利福尼亚州弗里蒙特的Amprius Technologies公司选择使用由数百条纯硅纳米线构成的阳极，每条纳米线周围都有可以膨胀的空隙。

Amprius's latest generation of anodes can achieve energy densities of up to 500 watt-hours per kilogram, compared with just under 300 watt-hours per kilogram for typical Li-ion batteries with graphite anodes.

Amprius最新一代阳极的能量密度可高达每公斤500瓦时，而典型的石墨阳极锂离子电池的能量密度仅为每公斤300瓦时。

NanoGraf, a company based in Chicago, has meanwhile developed a low-cost anode made of silicon oxide which can be filled with lithium ions before being installed in a battery.

与此同时，总部位于芝加哥的NanoGraf公司开发了一种由氧化硅制成的低成本阳极，可在安装到电池中之前填充锂离子。

This pre-swelling, in effect, limits the amount of expansion the anode will subsequently undergo.

这种预膨胀实际上限制了阳极随后的膨胀量。

Gains may also be found beyond the "active components", as electrodes are known.

除了“活性成分”（电极）之外，还有其他好处。