(Yicai Global) Dec. 22 -- A research team with one of China's top universities has developed a new aluminum ion-graphene battery with an extremely long life that takes only 1.1 seconds to fully charge in a laboratory environment.

 Aluminum ion is the most cutting-edge battery material at present, and the key to achieve its practical application is to find a suitable cathode material. A research team led by Prof. Gao Chao with the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering of Hangzhou-based Zhejiang University in the southeastern province of the same name, chose a unique graphene film that dramatically improves the overall performance of aluminum-ion batteries and allows them to compete with current mainstream lithium batteries and supercapacitors, zjol.com.cn reported today.

 The capacitance of ordinary batteries continues to decline with each repeated charging and discharging cycle, whereas this new battery can still work at about 91 percent efficiency after undergoing 250,000 chargings and dischargings, Gao indicated. It can be used for 70 years in smart phones even if charged 10 times a day, he added.

 The battery can be quickly replenished using a high-power power supply in a lab and takes only 1.1 seconds to fully charge. It is also very adaptable and can work properly in the -40-degree Celsius to 120-degree Celsius range, Gao added. This invention pinpoints the development direction for practical uses of aluminum ion batteries. Gao and his colleagues have now published a corresponding paper in internationally-recognized academic journal Science Advances.