The porphyrin molecule, the basis for chlorophyll, blood and vitamin B12, has been found to be effective in speeding up recharging battery cycles. Improving the charging speed of lithium-ion batteries has been a priority for some time, however, there are limited options for achieving this. In this study, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, have developed an efficient method that uses a single molecule of porphyrin, which is present on all living things, including plants, animals and humans. "The material has the storage capacity of a battery, but works as fast as a supercapacitor," said Professor Fichtner at Helmholtz.
The porphyrin molecule, the basis for chlorophyll, blood and vitamin B12, has been found to be effective in speeding up recharging battery cycles. Improving the charging speed of lithium-ion batteries has been a priority for some time, however, there are limited options for achieving this. However, by adding functional groups to the organic copper porphyrin molecule, researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm and the KIT Institute of Nanotechnology have found that the structure of the electrode is significantly stabilised, allowing for thousands of charge-discharge cycles. "The material has the storage capacity of a battery, but works as fast as a supercapacitor," said Professor Fichtner at Helmholtz.