Hitachi Maxell Ltd. (Japan) announced that it has developed a super-compact, lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery (considered to be one of the smallest in the world for practical use) that can power such devices as portable video game consoles and wireless headphones. Until now, miniaturization resulted in insufficient energy density, making such batteries commercially nonviable.
The battery measures 18mm x 20mm x 5.8mm, about 75% the size of currently available lithium-ion batteries. The newly developed battery has the 270Wh/l density of standard-size, lithium-ion units. Hitachi Maxell used its production expertise in magnetic tape to develop a process in which graphite and lithium-cobalt-oxide are poured into an aluminum casing at high density. The 3.7V battery has more than twice the voltage of conventional dry batteries.
Commercial shipments are slated to start as early as the beginning of next year.
