While we’ve all been spoiled by the advances of technology and the cutting-edge consumer devices that come with it, having to wait hours for batteries to recharge remains a distinct pain in this world of instant access and absolute convenience. However, that could all be about to change thanks to the work of a team at MIT.
But can we finally say goodbye to these things? Image: moria/Flickr.
Specifically, engineers working out of the renowned American institute have developed a scaled down lithium battery that is lighter and longer lasting than existing cells, and also absorbs a full power recharge between 10 and 20 seconds.
By crafting the solution from existing and widely used lithium ion technology, the MIT team believes its quick-recharge prototype could be ready for an official industry release as early as 2011.
Potential real-world applications could see the new batteries utilised in mobile phones and notebooks, while it could also significantly increase the effectiveness of cells used in electric vehicles.
According to MIT, the team created an internal “beltway” technique that allows electrical current to pass quickly around the battery, something normally hindered by the internal lithium ion phosphate and leading to slow discharge and hours of recharging.
Some five years after MIT predicted lithium ion battery technology could carry a charge much faster than was initially believed, the institute’s Professor Gebrand Ceder and graduate student Byoungwoo Kang have successfully enhanced performance by creating a new surface structure that allows charge to move at a vastly increased rate by pulling it through the battery's internal tunnels.
More detailed research and information regarding the battery technology will be published in this month’s issue of Nature, which is expected to hit newsstands on March 12.
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