Ultrasound could spot battery defects that might lead to fires

Cheap ultrasound sensors costing just dollars or pennies could reveal defects or damage in the lithium-ion batteries used by smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles – before those issues cause safety problems or lead to expensive recalls.

“It’s a really powerful tool to see what’s inside these lithium-ion cells in a low-cost and low-computational way,” says Royce Copley at the University of Sheffield in the UK.

Lithium-ion batteries power many modern technologies, but…