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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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Researchers Just Discovered Why EV Batteries Lose Range Over Time

Electric vehicles are often seen as the future of transportation. They are cleaner, quieter, and more energy-efficient than gasoline cars. But despite rapid progress, one major challenge still limits EV performance: battery range and lifespan.

Many drivers worry about how far an EV can travel on a single charge and how long the battery will remain healthy after years of use. Scientists around the world are racing to solve this problem, and now researchers at KAIST may have uncovered one of the most important clues yet.

In a breakthrough study published in ACS Energy Letters, the research team captured real-time nanoscale images showing exactly how lithium metal batteries begin to fail. Their findings could help create safer batteries with longer driving range and much longer lifespans for future EVs.

Why Lithium Metal Batteries Matter

Today’s electric vehicles mostly use lithium-ion batteries with graphite anodes. These batteries work well, but they are slowly approaching their performance limits. Automakers want batteries that can store far more energy without becoming larger or heavier.

This is where lithium metal comes in.

Lithium metal is often called the “dream material” for next-generation batteries because it can hold much more energy than graphite. A battery using lithium metal could potentially allow EVs to travel significantly farther on a single charge while reducing charging frequency.

In simple terms, lithium metal batteries could make EVs lighter, more powerful, and more practical for long-distance travel.

However, there has always been a major problem: they degrade too quickly.

After repeated charging and discharging cycles, the battery’s performance suddenly drops. In some cases, safety risks can also appear. Until now, scientists understood the symptoms but struggled to directly observe the exact process causing the damage.

That is what makes this new research so important.

Watching a Battery Fail in Real Time

The research team, led by Seungbum Hong, used a highly advanced imaging technique called in situ electrochemical atomic force microscopy, or EC-AFM.

This technology allowed them to observe the inside of a working battery in real time at the nanoscale — roughly 100,000 times thinner than a human hair.

Instead of studying the battery only before or after use, the scientists could actually watch lithium move during charging and discharging.

That real-time view revealed something surprising.

The lithium reaction was not happening evenly across the battery surface. Instead, lithium was concentrating at certain weak spots.

These uneven reactions turned out to be the key to understanding why battery performance collapses over time.

The Problem of “Dead Lithium”

During charging, lithium deposits onto the battery surface in a process called plating. During discharge, the lithium is removed in a process called stripping.

Ideally, this movement should happen smoothly and evenly.

But the researchers discovered that rough and porous regions on the lithium surface behaved differently. When lithium was stripped away from these areas, tiny empty spaces called voids formed.

Some lithium then became completely disconnected from the electrical network of the battery.

Scientists call this trapped material “dead lithium.”

Even though the lithium is still physically inside the battery, it can no longer participate in storing or delivering energy. Over time, more and more dead lithium builds up, reducing battery capacity and efficiency.

This directly weakens EV driving range.

The discovery is important because the researchers identified not only the damage itself, but also the exact locations where it begins.

Why Surface Shape Matters

One of the biggest findings from the study is that the “initial morphology” of lithium plays a crucial role in battery life.

Morphology simply means the shape and structure of the lithium surface when it first forms.

If the surface is uneven or rough from the beginning, lithium reactions become irregular. This increases the chances of void formation and dead lithium accumulation.

But if scientists can control the surface carefully and make lithium deposit uniformly, the battery may remain stable for much longer.

This changes how researchers think about battery design.

Instead of only focusing on new materials, engineers may also need to focus on controlling microscopic surface structures with extreme precision.

That tiny structural detail could determine whether a battery lasts for years or fails early.

What This Means for Electric Vehicles

The implications for EVs could be enormous.

If lithium metal batteries become commercially viable, future electric cars may achieve dramatically longer driving ranges. Drivers could potentially travel hundreds of additional kilometers on a single charge.

At the same time, battery lifespan could improve significantly.

One of the biggest concerns for EV owners is battery degradation after years of use. Replacing a battery pack is expensive, and declining battery health reduces resale value.

By preventing dead lithium formation, manufacturers may be able to create batteries that stay healthy for much longer periods.

This would reduce costs for consumers while also making EVs more environmentally sustainable.

Longer-lasting batteries mean fewer replacements, lower resource consumption, and less battery waste.

A Major Step Toward Safer Batteries

Safety is another major advantage.

Uneven lithium growth can sometimes lead to dangerous needle-like structures called dendrites. These structures can pierce battery components and potentially cause short circuits or fires.

By understanding where lithium instability begins, researchers can develop methods to reduce these risks before they become dangerous.

That makes this study valuable not only for performance improvements, but also for building safer next-generation energy systems.

The Bigger Picture

The global EV industry is growing rapidly. Governments and automakers are investing billions of dollars into battery technology because batteries are the heart of electric transportation.

But improving batteries is extremely difficult because many critical reactions happen at incredibly tiny scales invisible to the human eye.

This study changes that.

For the first time, scientists were able to directly observe how microscopic weak spots evolve into large-scale battery degradation.

It is similar to discovering the first crack in a bridge before the entire structure weakens.

That knowledge gives engineers a chance to stop the problem early through smarter battery design.

The Road Ahead

Lithium metal batteries are still not ready for widespread commercial use, but this research brings the technology one step closer to reality.

The findings provide a clear direction for future battery development: create smoother, more uniform lithium surfaces and prevent localized damage before it spreads.

If researchers succeed, the next generation of EV batteries could combine three major advantages at once:

  • Longer driving range

  • Longer battery lifespan

  • Improved safety

That combination could accelerate the global transition to electric transportation faster than ever before.

Professor Hong described the work as an important foundation for safer and longer-lasting batteries. And considering how critical batteries are to the future of clean energy, this tiny nanoscale discovery may eventually have a massive real-world impact.

The future of EVs may not depend only on bigger batteries or faster chargers.

It may depend on fixing microscopic weak spots invisible to the naked eye.

Reference: Seonghyun Kim et al, Spatially Selective Lithium Plating and Stripping in Lithium Metal Anodes, ACS Energy Letters (2026). DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.6c00122

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