lithium-ion batteries are of vital importance in many modern electrical devices due to their high energy density. However, the slow charging rate used for obtaining full capacity seriously limits the application in large-scale devices. There have been few ways to increase the charging rate without losses in energy density and electrochemical performance. Here we show that the charging rate can be dramatically increased via interaction with light. We find that a direct exposure of light to an operating electrode during charging leads to a remarkable lowering of the battery charging time by a factor of two or more. We anticipate that this discovery could pave the way to the development of new fast recharging battery technologies.

Light assisted fast charging of Li-ion batteries

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