Tired of your laptop battery degrading? New 'pulse current' charging process could double its lifespan.

Scientists have devised a new charging protocol for lithium-ion batteries that could double the lifespan of batteries used in smartphones and laptops.

The charging method — which gives devices power with a "pulse current" rather than a "constant current" — can extend battery lifespan by many years, the researchers wrote in a study published March 14 in the journal Advanced Material Sciences.

Lithium-ion batteries are used in everything from electric vehicles (EVs) to portable electronics, but the maximum capacity of these batteries degrades over time. The longer they are used, and the more charge cycles they undergo, the less charge they hold.

The batteries in many laptops, for instance, can last up to five years before weakening — or 300 to 500 charge cycles — according to the laptop manufacturer Lenovo. The best batteries, meanwhile, have a service life of up to eight years, the scientists said. These normally have electrodes made of a compound called NMC532 (comprising nickel, manganese and cobalt) as well as graphite.

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A constant current normally charges these batteries, with pulse charging normally used in "fast charging" products. In the study, the scientists charged different batteries with constant current and pulse current charging and measured the batteries' charge capacity.

In constant current batteries, the electrolyte interface at the anode — where there is an exchange of electrons between the electrolyte material and the positively charged electrode — was significantly thicker. This limited how much charge it could hold. There were also more cracks in the NMC532 and graphite electrodes, which reduced battery charging capacity.