Battery anxiety is a modern day problem for many of us. Mobile phone and wearable technologies are getting developed rapidly, but battery issues seem to be neverending. As phones and wearables are gettingĀ thinner, there needs to be a trade-off between battery life and design. Scientists are searching for a way to make a battery thatās tiny yet capable of holding the charge for a long time. So, whatās the solution?Ā Supercapacitor.
Scientists have been researching on the use of nanomaterials to improve supercapacitors that could enhance or even replace batteries in electronic devices. But itās not an easy task. Considering a typical supercapacitor, it must be a large one to store as much energy as aĀ Li-ionbattery holds.
To tackle the battery issue, a team of scientists at theĀ University of Central Florida (UCF)Ā has created a tiny supercapacitor battery applying newly discovered two-dimensional materials with only a few atoms thick layer. Surprisingly,Ā the new process created atĀ UCFĀ yields a supercapacitor that doesnāt degrade even after itās been recharged/dischargedĀ 30,000Ā times. Where a lithium-ion battery can be recharged less than 1,500 times without significant failure.
So, what else makes the supercapacitor special apart from their tiny size? Well, letās hear it fromĀ Nitin Choudhary, a postdoctoral associate who conducted much of the research :
Supercapacitors are not used in mobile devices for their large size. But theĀ team at UCF has developed supercapacitors composed of millions of nanometer-thick wires coated with shells of two-dimensional materials. A highly conductive core helps fasttransfer for fast charging and discharging. And uniformly coated shells ofĀ two-dimensional (2D)Ā materials produce high energy and power densities.
Scientists already knew 2D materials held great promise for energy storage purpose. But until theĀ UCFĀ developed the process for integrating those materials,Ā it was not possible to realize that potential.Ā Nitin ChoudharyĀ said,
Supercapacitors that use the new materials could be used in phones, wearables, other electronic gadgets, and electric vehicles. Though itās not ready for commercialization yet. But the research team atĀ UCFĀ hopes this technology will soon end the battery problem of smartphones and other devices. So letās wait awhile, and at the end of this year maybe youāll be using a new smartphoneĀ thatĀ can be charged in seconds and lasts for a week,Ā who knows!
Source:Ā THESE TINY BATTERIES CAN BE CHARGED IN SECONDS AND LAST FOR A WEEK