Super Battery Charges to 70% in Just 2 Minutes
Good gadgets need good backup. Well how implicative it may sound, it is one of the core concepts. In recent years, it has been observed that new gadgets are getting released almost every other week, with phenomenal features and are very compact. But this compactness comes at a price that is being negotiated to till now.
Every gadget that is released is battery powered, almost all
of them being considered essential form the point of view of portability. And
in such a situation the battery space has to be limited which leads to less
powered up hours. It has been considered one of the major drawbacks how the
supply for a much efficient and long lasting source can be integrated to
provide more output. Even the time taken to charge the battery for a specific device
is a crucial parameter to be taken care of. To solve this dilemma, super
batteries have been invented to provide x20 power and takes only a few minutes
to get charged.
A team of researchers in Singapore have developed a next
generation lithium-ion battery that can recharge a battery to 70-percent in
just two minutes. That means it would charge an entire electric car in just 15
minutes. And here’s the kicker: it lasts over 20 years. Normally, it’s safe to
be skeptical about new battery technology, but there’s something rather hopeful
about this breakthrough.
The new battery isn’t altogether new. It’s actually just an
improvement upon existing lithium-ion technology. The key comes in the form of
nanostructures. Instead of the traditional graphite used to create the
lithium-ion battery’s anode, this new technology uses a cheap titanium dioxide
gel, the same kind of material used in sunscreen to absorb UV rays. The
scientists found a way to turn the compound into nanostructures that speed up
the charging process. And speed it up they do. This simple innovation makes
lithium-ion batteries charge 20-times faster and last 20-times longer.
There’s
no definite timetable for when upgraded batteries could reach shipping
products, but the mini titanium tubes are both easy to make and relatively
inexpensive. They could make a big impact on the technology world when they
arrive, though. On a basic level, they could eliminate forced obsolescence for
some devices — you might only replace them when they no longer meet your needs,
not because they can’t hold a charge. They could have a particularly large
impact on electric cars — you could top up your battery in minutes, not hours,
and avoid replacing a very expensive component before you’re ready to replace
the vehicle itself.
NTU
associate professor Chen Xiaodong, the inventor of the titanium dioxide gel,
says batteries built with it could hit the market within two years, with an
unnamed company already licensing the technology. The Nanyang Technology
University press release has more detail about the technical aspects of the
discovery
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