A 166 percent jump in capacity during high-rate discharge: that is the figure the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) reported in September 2026 for a lithium-ion cell with a modified cathode. Power density rose by up to 2.85 times. For electric vehicles, drones, robots and high-performance laptops, which all draw heavily on a battery in short bursts, those are large numbers.
What the KRICT team changed
The researchers left the cell design alone and worked on the cathode, the electrode that stores and releases lithium ions. They added graphitic carbon nitride to the cathode material. The idea is to give ions and electrons a wider, smoother route in and out, much like widening a highway so more traffic moves at once.
The practical result, according to KRICT, is that a cell under heavy load can deliver more than twice the energy of existing technology. That matters when an EV accelerates or a heavy drone lifts off. Power density, the power a cell can supply for its size or weight, is what lets manufacturers fit more punch into a smaller, lighter pack.
The approach also keeps to proven chemistry rather than a new, untested material, which usually shortens the road from lab to factory. Whether it holds up at industrial scale, and over many charge cycles, has yet to be shown.
A technology three decades in the making
Modern lithium-ion cells rely on lithium ions moving reversibly in and out of conducting solids, a process called intercalation. M. Stanley Whittingham conceived intercalation electrodes in the 1970s and built the first rechargeable lithium cell, using a titanium disulfide cathode and a lithium-aluminium anode. It had safety problems and never reached the market. John Goodenough used lithium cobalt oxide as the cathode in 1980. Akira Yoshino developed the first prototype of the modern cell in 1985, with a carbonaceous anode, and a Sony and Asahi Kasei team led by Yoshio Nishi commercialized it in 1991. All three scientists shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Whittingham and Goodenough.
Since 1991, volumetric energy density has tripled while costs have fallen tenfold. By late 2024 global demand passed 1 terawatt-hour a year.
The safety question
Faster discharge does not remove an old problem. Lithium-ion cells contain flammable electrolytes, so damage, overheating or overcharging can start a fire. Researchers elsewhere are chasing alternatives, among them solid-state designs that drop the flammable liquid, as well as sodium-ion and iron-air chemistries that ease the mineral supply and environmental concerns. KRICT’s result suggests that existing lithium-ion cells still have room to improve before any of those take over.
Sources
- A new lithium-ion battery breakthrough could lead to cells that deliver more power for longer — they might be useful for everything from EVs to gaming laptops to robots to drones | TechRadar
- Lithium-ion battery
- How to prevent lithium-ion battery fires in Philadelphia
Photo: Altynay N Zhumabekova (CC BY 4.0)
