New 3D Battery May Charge Phones in Seconds and Laptop within Minutes!

Paul Braun and his group of scientists at the University of Illinois have designed and developed a 3D battery that might make it possible to recharge mobile phones in seconds and a laptop within minutes.

The same nanostructure could also be used to charge defibrillators, required in surgeries, without loss of time between pulses.

Apart from the convenience of quick-charging mobiles, laptops and other consumer electronics, this nanostructure can help manufacture batteries that can store a lot of energy, release it fast and recharge quickly thus, helping innovation in electric vehicles, medical devices, lasers and military applications.

"This system that we have gives you capacitor-like power with battery-like energy," said Braun, professor of materials science and engineering at Illinois.

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) or nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries in use currently suffer from issues like:

1.    Significant performance degradation when they are rapidly charged or discharged.
2.    High volume required to store enough charge for normal usage.

This new nanostructure can solve both these issues resulting in not just a fast charge but batteries that last much longer and take up considerably less space by wrapping a thin film into 3D structure thus, achieving both high active volume (high capacity) and large current.

Braun's group has demonstrated battery electrodes that can charge or discharge in a few seconds, 10 to 100 times faster than current generation bulk electrodes and yet, can perform normally in existing devices.

Braun is particularly optimistic for the batteries' potential in electric vehicles, which would slash charging time from half a day to a few minutes.

If this technology does turn out to be commercially viable to be adopted for commercial devices, it could usher in a new era of ultra slim devices not just for use by general public but also for equipment used by the military and medical fraternity.

One possible use that comes to my mind is being able to use advanced equipment in ambulances so that they may be of more use in the field reducing risk of death by a huge margin.

If you think this new technology could be useful in your line of work, do let us know by commenting below.


Thanks-Techtree.com