Scientists at the University of Central Florida (UCF) have developed a prototype supercapacitor battery that lasts 20 times longer than a conventional lithium-ion battery. The prototype charges in seconds.
“If you replace your batteries with these supercapacitors, you can charge your mobile phone in a few seconds and you won’t have to charge it again for over a week,” said Nitin Choudhary.
The great news is that the UCF battery doesn't lose its lifespan over time. After about 18 months, a typical lithium-ion battery slowly begins a process of degradation, where each charge cycle results in fractionally smaller amounts of total capacity. The prototype can maintain the same charge levels and still function like new, even after being recharged 30,000 times.
The new battery's supercapacitors charge quickly because of the way they store energy: statically, on the surface of the material. Ordinary batteries, on the other hand, rely on chemical reactions to store energy. Using graphene, the researchers created a large surface area that can hold more electrons, increasing the lifespan of a battery.
It's still very early days, of course, but the research is quite promising.
If successful, supercapacitors research could give us batteries that last weeks, in portable devices, electric vehicles, or anywhere that needs the ability to store electricity from alternative energy sources.
Read above:
https://today.ucf.edu/phone-charges-seconds-ucf-scientists-bring-closer-reality/
