South Korea’s state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute said Monday it has developed hybrid electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries that are free from explosions.

Lithium-ion batteries are charged and discharged when lithium ions go back and forth between the positive side and the negative side. Lithium-ion batteries are filled with liquid called electrolytes, which help the ions travel.

As liquid electrolytes are flammable, efforts have been made to develop solid electrolytes. However, due to high resistance, electrolytes can’t travel properly through solid electrolytes.

ETRI solved the conundrum by developing hybrid electrolytes mixed with organic matter as flexible as liquid and inorganic compound as hard as solid. The newly developed electrolytes help lithium ions travel as twice as better and are three times more efficient than liquid electrolytes, ETRI said.

“Inorganic compound naturally forms a layer that resists to lithium ions. ETRI utilized a semiconductor technology called dry etching, which removes the layer without damaging the electrolytes,” an ETRI official said.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)