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battery posts


It's not the only company working on metal-air batteries, but Scottsdale, Arizona-based Fluidic Energy may be in a better position to deliver on its promises than most, as it's just managed to snag a $5.13 million research grant from the US Department of Energy to further develop the "breakthrough" technology. While that word's thrown around quite a bit these, in the case, it may actually live up to the hype, considering that breakthrough in question would be a battery that's able to deliver eleven times the energy density of the best lithium-ion batteries for less than one-third of the cost. The key to that, it seems, is the battery's use of an ionic liquid as its electrolyte, which is described as a "wonder fluid" since it's able to last significantly longer than other fluids because drying out isn't a problem, and because it brings with it a significant boost in energy density. Of course, the company still apparently doesn't have an actual battery to back up its claims just yet, and it's not making any promises about when it might deliver one either.
Oh yeah, everyone loves the extended battery, but are we really kosher with the added bulge? A team of boffins at the University of Missouri certainly aren't, as they've spent the last good while of their lives researching and developing a new nuclear battery that could be used to power devices much smaller than, well, most anything. The radioisotope cell, as it's called, can reportedly "provide power density that is six orders of magnitude higher than chemical batteries," and while some may question the safety of this potentially volatile device, the liquid semiconductor (used instead of a solid semiconductor) should help ease concerns. The current iteration of the device is about the size of a penny, and it's intended to power a variety of MEMS systems. Now, if only these guys could find a way to make a standard AA last longer than a week in our Wiimote, we'd be pleased as punch.












