Batteries are those embarrassingly bulky components found in all kinds of electronics including your smartphone and they take forever to charge. 12 minutes or less is all the time you’ll need to power up your devices in the future if the latest invention by researchers from the University of Maryland is put into commercial use.
The miniature power house contains all the components you’d find in a battery. It is called a nanopore and it is essentially a hole in a ceramic sheet that carries electrolyte. The last mentioned is the ferrying agent of the electrical charge which must move between the nanotube electrodes stationed at both ends.
It’s not all theory and talk, since the inventors have actually got the battery working and have even demonstrated its core concept. While it may be true that the system which has been unveiled is merely a test device, it still performs its job. It can be powered up many times over and charges to the brim within 12 minutes.
The tiny pore we spoke about above, has to be treated in order for it to embed nanotubes for collecting the electrical charge from the liquid electrolyte flooding it. Several millions of these nanopores can be fitted onto a battery as small as a postage stamp. It is the design of the system which contributes to its success.
Since each and every nanopore sports the same shape, they can be squeezed into a small area very efficiently. If you had to add up all the space inside the holes, it would amount to something roughly the size of a grain of sand. The future version of the teensy battery could be 10 times more powerful than the present one.
Funded by the Department of Energy, the project could be on its way to commercialization since the University of Maryland team has also sketched out plans for the same.