New Breakthrough Paves Way for 10X Better Battery Life, Charge Rate

[Brink]

Despite its cutthroat nature, the mobile device market can be quite predictable in terms of innovation, which is mostly restricted to just a handful of areas. What’s more, most of the innovation that we see is evolutionary. But to quote late Apple founder Steve Jobs, “Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” That’s exactly the kind of breakthrough researchers at Northwestern University seem to have stumbled upon.

In a breakthrough that could have implications for everything from cellphones to electric cars, a team of engineers at Northwestern University have managed to improve energy capacity and charge rate in lithium-ion batteries by a factor of 10.

Read more at:
Maximum PC | New Breakthrough Paves Way for 10X Better Battery Life, Charge Rate

 

[arkhi]

Jump my battery from 2 hours of high performance gaming to 20 hours?

 

[Brink]

Sure would be nice.

 

[strollin]

Maybe I missed it but the article seems to indicate that the battery's life will be extended 10X before it needs to be replaced. I didn't see anything stating that it will be able to provide 10X of usage time so I don't think you'll be able to get extended game play.

 

[seekermeister]

I did read that it would charge 150 times, which they equated to a year's of use. I do not use batteries like they seem to be speaking of, as in portable PCs, etc. but it would be nice if the technology was extended to regular AAA, AA, C & D cell batteries. Yet, it may be too expensive, even if they did, because I get a lot more charges than that on the batteries that I use. I have some Ray-O-Vac AA 15 minute rechargeables that are over 7 years old, and are still working.

 

[MrNeeds]

Maybe I missed it but the article seems to indicate that the battery's life will be extended 10X before it needs to be replaced. I didn't see anything stating that it will be able to provide 10X of usage time so I don't think you'll be able to get extended game play.

In a breakthrough that could have implications for everything from cellphones to electric cars, a team of engineers at Northwestern University have managed to improve energy capacity and charge rate in lithium-ion batteries by a factor of 10.

seems like it's exponentially increased the amount of Lithium Ions stored on the charging sheets(by using silicon instead of carbon), so more lithium ions stored in the battery means longer battery usage

In current rechargeable batteries, the anode -- made of layer upon layer of carbon-based graphene sheets -- can only accommodate one lithium atom for every six carbon atoms. To increase energy capacity, scientists have previously experimented with replacing the carbon with silicon, as silicon can accommodate much more lithium: four lithium atoms for every silicon atom. However, silicon expands and contracts dramatically in the charging process, causing fragmentation and losing its charge capacity rapidly

 

[strollin]

Ok, this article makes it clearer: Smartphone lithium-ion battery breakthrough coming... in five years - Feature - Techworld.com

If it's true, I don't want to wait 5 years for it!

 

[mickey megabyte]

...week-long battery life and 15-minute recharge times...

forgive my jaded cynicism, but i'll believe it when i see it.

sure would be nice if it were true though!