Brown U. is building better batteries with plastic
By Paul Miller 
posted September 17th 2006 2:05AM
posted September 17th 2006 2:05AM
Too bad they're not building 'em with "butter" or "barometers" -- the alliteration potential is just so vast! All the same, plastic seems to be just what your iPod ordered, combining the storage ability of a traditional battery, with the intense power capabilities of capacitors. We didn't pay attention well enough in our science classes to know what it means to "Put electroactive molecules into conducting polymers," but the results of the experiments being conducted on conductive plastics by a few Brown University engineers speak for themselves. The new batteries are as thin as an overhead transparency, smaller than an iPod nano in height and width, and yet manage double the storage of a traditional battery, and 100 times the power of a standard alkaline battery. The plastic battery can deliver or receive its charge rapidly like a capacitor, yet can also hold a charge and deliver power slowly like a battery, meaning all sorts of good times for power junkies like us. Right now there are still a few kinks to work out before the technology is ready for the market, but we'll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.[Via Slashdot]
I go to Brown. This is pretty sweet.
brown builds better batterys by beta-testing.. blastic?
I just want to say one word to you - just one word... Plastics.
One thing that you guys didn't mention, the batteries also last forever, so you would never have to replace your iPod battery after so-many charges.
Hope this will be able to power the electric bikes and cars of the future.
> a few kinks to work out
Did you mean kinks like nasty explosions?
This seems too good to be true. I remember some nanotechnology that held electrons in an excited state werent even this powerful... but if its true...
Combine this with that 20% efficient nano solar powers and you've got me hot and bothered.
Palmore said some performance problems – such as decreased storage capacity after repeated recharging – must be overcome before the device is marketable.
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Zzzzz. These stories constantly hit the media so they can find more investors/venture capitalists to fund their research. They always have a "but..."
"They always have a "but..." "
Yep there are always trade offs in engineering.
The day they announce something WITHOUT a couple of provisos you make sure to let me know.
The day they announce something WITHOUT a couple of provisos you make sure to let me know.
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Happens all the time. Then they announce when it will hit the market, because they are ready for production. As opposed to fishing for investors.
Hmm, since they're so thin, couldn't they be stacked so as to deliver even more battery life? They could still be half the size of current batteries and delivering *way* more battery life. Interesting. Get those "kinks" worked out!
This sounds great. But as soon as you start to smell burning plastic, drop that laptop!!!
I've had a polymer battery in my cellphone for four years, it lasts almost 4 weeks between charges - of course, my cellphone is only on in standby mode for about an hour every day
Cool... i always thought something like this would happen... its a good way to recyle plastics... but plastic is made from gasoline... hope they find another polymer to replace plastic on the further furture.
Read the release. Looks like Engadget got it wrong too.
"It had twice the storage capacity of an electric double-layer capacitor"
An example would be 120volts for 0.02 seconds instead of 0.01 seconds. How long does your camera flash last? Double it!
Doubling capacitor storage capacity is not that great compared to any battery.