Researchers Accidentally Make Batteries Last 400 Times Longer

Instead of lithium, researchers at UC Irvine have used gold nanowires to store electricity, and have found that their system is able to far outlast traditional lithium battery construction. The Irvine team's system cycled through 200,000 recharges without significant corrosion or decline.

The Irvine battery technology uses a gold nanowire, no thicker than a bacterium, coated in manganese oxide and then protected by a layer of electrolyte gel. The gel interacts with the metal oxide coating to prevent corrosion. The longer the wire, the more surface area, and the more charge it can hold. Other researchers have been experimenting with nanowires for years, but the introduction of the protective gel separates UC Irvine's work from other research.
"[The gel] does more than just hold the wire together. It actually seems to make the metal oxide softer and more fracture-resistant. It increases the fracture toughness of this metal oxide that is doing the charge storage," Penner said.

www.popsci.com...-2

The researcher was looking to make a solid state battery and discovered a way to prevent degradation instead, they even think gold can be replaced by a cheaper metal if this ever gets to be commercial technology, sometimes these things get nowhere in the real world

Everlasting batteries sound good, time to buy some solar panels i guess

a reply to: Indigent

ooops...sorry 'bout that

There is already a battery that is working over 100 years now non-stop. On a bell. A bell that has been ringing for 100 years

originally posted by: ZeroFurrbone
There is already a battery that is working over 100 years now non-stop. On a bell. A bell that has been ringing for 100 years

What bell would that be? That's very interesting.

a reply to: Indigent

Batteries are big business - for instance you and I can buy a AA energizer in multiple outlets in multiple towns and cities practically in any country on the planet. Depending on what we use the battery for, we could see ourselves back at the shop in a matter of days or weeks to purchase more. Even before the advent of portable wireless tech, batteries (of various sizes and types) have always been a "needed" or "must have" item in practically every household.

This break through will not be welcome news to those battery manufacturers who currently rely on planned obsolescence to ensure product turnover keeps profit margins increasing.

This is welcome news indeed and if it can be kept affordable in a free and open market it may prove to be a financial win for average Joe.

a reply to: ZeroFurrbone

The Clarendon bell? that works with electrostatic discharges, hopefully one day my phone will work like that too

in other unrelated news, the price of gold nanowires, manganese oxide and telectrolyte gel went up by 2000%

hopefully no technological advancements depend on any of those!

a reply to: Indigent


Well. Battery is a battery at the end.

a reply to: Sublimecraft

So-called "Big Battery" are chump change compared to the tech companies who's products depend on better battery life so I really don't see this particular angle of yours holding up.

a reply to: Indigent

The lithium Batteries information was released some time ago and I got hopeful then. I just can't see them, whether lithium or gold etc ever being available because especially in the UK the government likes control of our power and were we independent they would also loose money.

a reply to: Shiloh7

I got phobia to lithium Batteries, they burn so bad, someday when i have money to have a house ill consider going solar panel/ batteries, but not whit the current batteries, dies to fast and too much fire hazard.

I am assuming then, that these batteries are compact like the Lithium ones, but not prone to overheating as the Lithium ones are, and have brought down aircraft in the past.

Yeah, I swear my laptop batteries can't handle even one charge before they start to give out.

There's a lot of advancement going on in power storage and usage right now.
But this is really what we need.
The development of technology is continuing with the usual speed but the powering of such is what's holding things back. For instance, we would probably all be driving electric cars by now if they'd managed to create long lasting smaller batteries ten years ago.

I've long said that we need to be focussing on energy production, delivery, storage and usage, because this is the fundamental blockage to the development of new technology.

In short, everything else has been moving along, but power management has almost remained static for decades.

We need to create cleaner ways of producing the energy we need, while finding easier ways to deliver it, while shrinking the storage down, and while making everything using said power use less than it was before. We're advancing further and faster in some areas than others.

And as a side note, it would be a wise investment to make if you have the opportunity. If you have the chance to buy up shares in a tech company working on power specifically you absolutely should, before Google or Apple buys all those small tech companies out.

You would think governments would be keen to get away from companies selling lithium batteries considering they are used in the manufacture of some drugs like Meth.

Well, finally a good use for that overpriced ugly colored metal.

At the price of the batteries for some of my tools, they should have been made out of gold.

The battery doesn't last longer.

The number of times it can be recharged before it dies is longer.

Until we reach a point where batteries can last for days instead of hours. Battery tech isn't going anywhere.

originally posted by: grey580
The battery doesn't last longer.

The number of times it can be recharged before it dies is longer.

Until we reach a point where batteries can last for days instead of hours. Battery tech isn't going anywhere.

Say what?

If this can be brought to market, and lives up to the claim, it just dropped the price of alternative energy by a massive amount.

One of the biggest issues with large scale alternative energy has been storage lifespan and replacement costs. A battery that can be recharged hundreds of times more than current, just removed that obstacle. And, when your storage is a cost, that often exceeds the price of the energy generator, that is big news!

a reply to: Indigent

I hope this news will not quietly vanishes into oblivion to be never heared from again...

originally posted by: zatara
a reply to: Indigent

I hope this news will not quietly vanishes into oblivion to be never heared from again...

I don't think so with this one. There is enough information, description and pics in that article, this could almost be a DIY'er. I'm excited about this and the possibilities. We've reached a point where money should be well behind our first priority of self preservation. I hope some companies take this up. They will succeed at both making money and helping curb the throw away actions we take.

Gold in bars in rooms in basements in the ground do no one any good. It might as well be un-mined.