Important Lithium Battery Component Harms Environment

The material at the heart of the lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles, laptop computers, and smartphones has been shown to impair a key soil bacterium, according to new research published online in the journal Chemistry of Materials.

The study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota is an early signal that the growing use of the new nanoscale materials used in the rechargeable batteries that power portable electronics and electric and hybrid vehicles may have untold environmental consequences....

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