Startup creates new type of electrolyte for better and cheaper lithium ion battery

Startup creates new type of electrolyte for better and cheaper lithium ion battery
(Phys.org) -- The problem with lithium ion batteries, the kind used in cars, cellphones and other devices, is that they don’t hold enough energy relative to their size. Small batteries mean constantly recharging your phone while big batteries add a lot of weight and cost to the price of an electric car. What’s needed, most experts agree, is a new kind of electrolyte, the material that sits between the anode and cathode in a lithium ion battery. Now a new startup thinks they’ve found it. Called Iolyte, the new material is flame retardant, doesn’t evaporate and is able to hold more charge than current electrolytes.