Ultrathin, algae-based batteries could charge things you never thought possible
By Darren Murph 
posted November 29th 2009 2:07AM
posted November 29th 2009 2:07AM
Somehow or another, we've figured out how to send mere mortals to the moon, create (and mass produce) a laptop thin enough to floss with and add multitouch capabilities to a mouse. But for whatever reason, we're still stuck using AA batteries that last approximately one-fifth as long as you need them to. Outside of a few breakthroughs here and there, the battery industry at large has found a holding pattern that digs at consumers and likely fattens the wallets of those in charge. Thanks to new research surrounding the use of Cladophora (green algae) in a flexible, ultrathin alternative, it looks as if we may finally be onto something good. Researchers purport that these super skinny cells could be placed in areas where batteries are currently unable to go -- think of perpetually charged wall sensors, energized clothing or even light-up wrapping paper. Better still, prototypes have shown the ability to hold a significant charge, but unfortunately for us all, no specific production date has been pegged. A boy can dream though, yeah?
This is at least the dozenth time this year I've read a story on a breakthrough in battery tech...each of which takes the time to state how dismal the battery sitiuation is, and usually talk about how many new-fangled battery tech promises there have been and how few have payed off.
And then we get a story about a new-fangled battery tech.
It makes me smile.
@OG Phenix You said everything I click on comments for!
Will believe it when its there!
@OG Phenix
Seconded. Less 'breakthroughs', more physical products, por favor.
yabut the guy on CoastToCoast AM said that next Christmas we could have wrapping paper that lights up trees and noses and boring cliche's soooo THERE
@OG Phenix
I remember getting all excited about the Methanol Batteries and it took them this long to be adopted. Not only that but they are doing it wrong. If I recall correctly the plan was to embed the tech directly into phone batteries so all you needed to do was inject regular methanol and charge your phone instantly. But instead they came up with a big fat expensive external solution that you have to buy "specialized methanol" directly from them for ridiculous prices. Defeating the purpose, as it is more cost effective to just buy a few batteries and it will last longer and take up less space in your bag than the methanol gadget.
/end rant
Back on topic, I won't hold my breath expecting this to be implemented any time soon.
@Eternity
I think you're referring to hydrogen fuel cell power (in this case hydrogen is taken from methanol). In this case methanol fuel cells, and they aren't dead, they are still early in development. Toshiba has shown a bunch of prototypes, and has released one last month.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/toshiba-dynario-fuel-cell-the-battery-revolution-begins-october/
Also, they aren't batteries at all. And BTW, they don't used any specialized methanol, any methanol will do- its dirt cheap.
@OG Phenix but you guys are assuming battery companies don't pull a ford or buy them out and bury the tech
Woah! Maybe with this we can have light up sticky notes.
@NirvanaFlames Or better yet, light up pasties! That will be so hot...
Alright, lets give some smartphones the same great battery life as their reject-cousin-dumbphones!
@(Unverified)
My Blackberry curve battery actually lasts a cool 5~6 days on average, and this is after owning it for a good year and a half. When I first got it, it would last about a week!
Unfortunately, after 2 years of having my MacBook, the battery life went from 2.5 hours to 30 minutes. Sucks.
@Mushrooshi You are still lucky, after using my Compaq laptop for 8 months,it's battery life went from 2 hours to 2 mins. Maybe it was due to the fact that I kept the adapter plugged in most of the time.But it sucks nonetheless.
@(Unverified) Do a google search for "E71 battery life". The newer E52 has an 8hr talk time and 28 days of standby!
"But for whatever reason, we're still stuck using AA batteries that last approximately one-fifth as long as you need them to."
The oil companies killed battery technologies. If we had super efficient batteries, then we wouldn't need them and their black gold to power our vehicles.
So, what you're saying is Tesla's will run on plants soon. Hmm.
wasn't there some research on batteries that recharge by peeing on them?
@mocax
You're weird.
Hey, I'll take any chance I can get to pee in public.
Yeah, but they needed bananas to neutralize the rage.
All breakthroughs about batteries are as real as the cake... Remember, the cake is a lie...
We all know (as mentioned above), the chubby fish called 'oil industry' ate a lot of industries, technologies and, bingo! Our money...
what do trees run on? hmmmm
@(Unverified) What if the thing that needs to be powered is in a dark place?
@(Unverified) there are trees in Alaska, think harder
@(Unverified) There is still sun out. . .You think harder.
Sure, walking around with algae in my pocket is a new lifestyle!
...years later: still no battery breakthrough...
@shogunmaster
no what you mean is, no battery production we all know breakthroughs will happen its just implementing them is going to be hard.
Significant breakthroughs aside, batteries have been improving. It's just we are spoiled by the speeds transistors improve.
As for major breakthroughs, many are promising but few have reached commercialization.
Well, looks like new way to waste even more energy on silly products that we actually do not need but find amuzing.
And of course you'll have to properly dispose of these batteries as well, since this could lead to ever-more creative algal blooms.
Ahh. I thought this battery tech used living algae. That would have been a problem as photosynthetic algae needs light to make its living. It actually only uses the superfine cellulose "skeleton" produced by the algae as the structural support for anode/cathode layers.
@Ginseng
Thanks for being the only person to read the article.
Also, Cladophora is a pretty large genus. They weren't specific on what species they were using.
Way to work on irrelevant links to your own thread posts Engad.
Are you sure they didn't mean algae solar cells?
Maybe this can power my OLED suit.
Well let's be fair; batteries have improved significantly, within the existing technologies we have now (especially lithium ion). It's just that at the same time, the power requirements of various devices have increased as well.
I agree with earlier comments; we see lots of "breakthroughs," but few, if any, actual applications. Of course, it could just be because of the internet, where we hear about discoveries almost as they happen. In the past, we weren't as aware of the long road these things take before getting into consumer devices, and so we weren't as aware.
I mean, weren't battery chemistries like lithium-based rechargeables first discovered and experimented with back in the 1910s and 1920s? But it took several decades later until it became feasible, stable, and cheap enough to use in consumer devices.
A half-inch is pretty thin for a computer, but the only way you're going to floss with an Adamo is if you're David Letterman or Arnold Schwarzenegger.
So how would you charge one of these algae-based batteries? Wouldn't they require constant sunlight to keep the algae alive and the battery functional?
Mortality Report!