Carbon nanotubes are kind of like peanuts. They both seem pretty simple at first glance, but with a little work, you can make pretty much anything out of 'em. Take this case, for example, as
MIT boffins have discovered that by forming the tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon into minuscule springs, they could be "capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as lithium-ion batteries." The real kicker is exactly how they'd do it -- "more durably and reliably." Essentially, these newfangled cells could be left alone for years on end without losing their charge, and unlike conventional batteries, these wouldn't suffer from performance degradation when exposed to temperature extremes. Of course, anything as pie-in-the-sky as this is probably at least a decade or so out from Walmart shelves, but considering that the group responsible has already filed a patent, we'd say they're pretty confident in the possibilities.
[Via
Physorg]
posted Sep 21st 2009 8:29PM
These articles are fun, but I know this isn't coming for a long time.
Coming in 21XX.
More like 201x to be honest
10 years later "Carbon Nanotubes Cause Cancer". 15 minutes after that "Does your space elevator or the space elevator of someone you know use carbon nanotubes? If so, the law firm of Sokolof, Karsowski, Myers, Menter, Darg, Davis and Leifsson is here for you. Just call 1-800-crbntbs. That's 1-800-crbntbs. If you've been injured by frightening sounding headlines, we get you money."
IIRC that joke was already used on WiiHD new...
Not really an alternative to typical batteries. This is about storing mechanical energy, and not electrical energy. Its also pretty limited to applications where you need that energy all at once, versus a controlled drain.
|Livermore explains. Unlike batteries, for example, springs can deliver the stored energy effectively either in a rapid, intense burst, or slowly and steadily over a long period — as exemplified by the difference between the spring in a mousetrap or in a windup clock.|
...
"|Livermore says that the springs made from these minuscule tubes might find their first uses in large devices rather than in micro-electromechanical devices. For one thing, the best uses of such springs may be in cases where the energy is stored mechanically and then used to drive a mechanical load, rather than converting it to electricity first.|
"Any system that requires conversion from mechanical energy to electrical and back again, using a generator and then a motor, will lose some of its energy in the process through friction and other processes that produce waste heat. For example, a regenerative braking system that stores energy as a bicycle coasts downhill and then releases that energy to boost power while going uphill might be more efficient if it stores and releases its energy from a spring instead of an electrical system, she says"
What do you wanna bet the battery companies do not like the sound of this and will do whatever it takes to supress and or weaken the actual batteries made from this. A super long lasting battery that does not losing charging? That just leads to long term profit loss!
How tall is that photographer, or are they in a miniaturized lab?
They work on nanotubes. Of course it's miniaturized lab. With miniaturized scientists.
dont let these fools ever make another dollar. who makes a product that does half of what it needs to do inorder to be considered functional, and says....the rest is coming in future product.
screw em.
this is a typical sexist photograph. The photographer wanted to emphasize the small dainty stature of women and look down upon them.
either that or the photographer is an absolute hack who knows nothing about composition...take your pick
@matt Are you serious? Because the photo is taken pointing down, that means the photographer is sexist? You're funny.
Bob: You should have that sarcasmometer checked, the value it's reading doesn't look right :-/
And I personally like the angle of the picture - this way you can see what's in the lab, I'm always curious
Their future's looking up.
@matt:
Or MAYBE it's a self photo, and they're just using the skills they learned in facebook photography class.
Maybe they Jolly Green Giant is working as a photographer on the side to make some extra money.......
youre eating peanut butter right now, arent you darren.
oh my god!, that women on the left has exactly the same expression as the cat in my picture!!
Note: "Nano"-tube.
If I were you, I wouldn't advertise that I have anything nano...
Nanotube, I'd believe that.
Why is the camera guy always 8 feet tall?
That giant Chinese guy has been walking around New York, for some obscure reason.
Maybe he took a trip up to Boston... to discuss nanotubes.
They should get rid of batteries all together, and work on devices that will power themselves forever with no charging, Naww forget it. This is interesting.
I don't see the word "Rechargeable" Someone hold me... Please...
It's a mechanical spring made from a nanotube material, as for the 'recharge' properties:
'"They should also be able to charge and recharge many times without a loss of performance," Livermore says, although the actual performance over time still needs to be tested.'
Honestly, I'm (expletive) sick of hearing about the magical potential of carbon nanotubes. I demand that not a single word be uttered, not a single post be posted about the carbon nanotubes until I can experience them firsthand.
http://www.nano-lab.com/nanotubes-industrialgrade.html
Happy birthday.
Bitch somewhere else.
jk/
Be careful what you ask for, they already found they can end up in cells and won't be broken down, what if your experience is 'nanocarbon-lung' from the dust from the new springs used in every car 10 years from now?
Dang, they've only been promising us carbon nanotube batteries with instant recharging, longer battery life and greater power capacities for over 3 years now. I'm still having trouble finding them in the local Walmart.
the one on the right looks like a femail version of malcom in the middle.
obviously you don't go to an ivy.
ultra-reliable? good i guess, but i'd rather have ultra-capacity. GET BACK TO WORK.
Well according to this article he would make a whole lot of kinetic energy but no shock...
@boyprodigy1: you sure just won the internets. congrats!
jaycustom I can see why yer confused - your on the wrong blog. This is s-c-i-e-n-c-e. They are s-c-i-e-n-c-e-g-u-y-s-&-g-a-l-s.
....your outlook being bleak and overly negative with a hint of spite
Lmao, this is old news from 2006 Engagdet.
My employer Evonik in germany is already working on mass-market products...
A friend of mine is working on similar researches for a while now...the future might be closer than it seems:) serious work!
I love female engineers.
They're engineers. They'll kick your ass in the most technically efficient way it is reasonable to achieve.
The workings of Borg nano probes have been already well established and don't need any further explanation.
Batteries made from some non-rare material? Yes, please.
Had this been some sort of discovery made by male scientists, people would probably be talking about it in a serious, or at least relevant, way. But no, just keep arguing wether or not the female scientists are hot...
This is kinda sad, IMO