In 2006 many MacBooks and ThinkPads were recalled because their manufacturers spotted some problems at the batteries, problems that could make them catch fire. Nowadays, the batteries seem to have regained their safety, but specialists warn that they still can catch fire in case of “mistreatment”.

Researchers are trying to eliminate entirely the risks therefore a team of developers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC, Germany, announced that they replaced the “the inflammable organic electrolytes with a non-flammable polymer that retains its shape”. These words are of Dr. Kai-Christian Möller, leader of the ISC team who also added that “this considerably enhances the safety of lithium-ion batteries. What’s more, because it is a solid substance, the electrolyte cannot leak out of the battery”.

This new polymer comes from an inorganic compound and it was very hard to achieve this because “the more solid a polymer is, the less conductive it becomes”. The polymer is called Ormocer, it retains its shape and conducts energy fairly well.

The developers from ISC already build a prototype of a battery which should enter on the market in the next three to five years. The main reason for this delay is that the battery needs improvement for its efficiency and storage, and also the researchers say that the batteries can compete against car batteries.

This is big news for laptop and battery manufacturers because nobody liked that big recall of laptop batteries in 2006 when Dell, Toshiba and Apple reported some exploding batteries.