Huawei develops technology to charge smartphone battery ten times faster

Huawei comes with a fast charging technology for lithium-ion batteries of smartphones. According to the Chinese company, with a modification of the anode, the battery can be charged ten times faster than is possible with conventional models.

The technology was developed by a laboratory that is affiliated with Huawei and has been tested extensively in recent times, the Chinese manufacturer states on its community website. The battery charging technology developed was presented during the so-called Battery Symposium in Japan, but it is not yet clear when it can be used commercially. According to Huawei, it is working with industrial partners to further develop the technology.

A video shows how quickly a 3000mAh smartphone battery can be charged with the new technology. In five minutes, the battery is charged almost half full via a specially developed charger. This is considerably faster than has been possible with conventional batteries and chargers: according to Huawei, the new battery can make the charging of mobile phones ten times faster than usual.

The new battery works with so-called heteroatoms, atoms other than carbon or hydrogen that are in a molecular ring structure. These are connected to the graphite molecules in the anode of the battery, in order to ‘capture’ lithium ions with greater efficiency. This speeds up charging, but has no further negative impact on the battery life and energy density, the maker argues. However, many details are still missing, because Huawei has not put a detailed explanation about the mechanism of action online. There are also no precise figures on the achieved charging speeds and the lifespan of the new batteries.

Incidentally, Huawei does not only think to use the new technology for smartphones. Other devices, such as wearables and the batteries of electric cars, could also benefit from the new technology.