Submitted via IRC for Fnord666_
Oops! Scientists accidentally create new material that makes batteries charge much faster
Some of the most famous scientific discoveries happened by accident. From Teflon and the microwave oven to penicillin, scientists trying to solve a problem sometimes find unexpected things. This is exactly how we created phosphorene nanoribbons – a material made from one of the universe's basic building blocks, but that has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of technologies.
We'd been trying to separate layers of phosphorus crystals into two-dimensional sheets. Instead, our technique created tiny, tagliatelle-like ribbons one single atom thick and only 100 or so atoms across, but up to 100,000 atoms long. We spent three years honing the production process, before announcing our findings.
[...] The two-dimensional ribbons have a number of remarkable properties. Their width to length ratio is similar to the cables that span the Golden Gate Bridge. Their incredibly uniform but manipulable width allows their properties, such as whether and how they conduct electricity, to be fine-tuned. They are also incredibly flexible, which means that they can follow the contours of any surfaces they're put on perfectly, and even be twisted.
Perhaps the most important of these is in the area of battery technology. The corrugated structure of phosphorene nanoribbons means that the charged ions that power batteries could soon move up to 1000 times faster than currently possible. This would mean a significant decrease in charging time, alongside an increase in capacity of approximately 50 percent. Such performance gains would provide massive boosts to the electric car and aircraft industries, and allow us to much better harness renewable energy to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels even on grey, calm days.
It also means that in future, batteries could use sodium ions instead of lithium ions. Known lithium reserves may not be able to meet huge projected increases in battery demand, and extraction of the metal can be environmentally harmful. Sodium, by contrast, is abundant and cheap.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Mykl on Monday May 13 2019, @06:43AM (2 children)
While this is a very exciting development, I'm still waiting to power all of my devices with banana peels and soft drink [youtube.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 13 2019, @07:15AM (1 child)
Eh? You can run out of banana peels and soft drink, but the constant nagging from the missus never stops and seems to be unlimited.. I'd sure like to tap into that as a power source!
Posting a/c, cause Karma is indeed a Bitch.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 14 2019, @12:43AM
Maybe you can hook her up to a stirling engine.
Or wait for my Congressional model for recovering free energy from hot air. It comes with a podium, has a hot air inlet shaped like a microphone, and is optimized for extracting energy from the hot air emissions from Congressmen, salesmen, or preacher men.
A slightly smaller wife sized model is in the works.
(Score: 5, Touché) by krishnoid on Monday May 13 2019, @07:28AM (1 child)
I see you're trying to use the new ribbon feature to improve your battery capacity. Would you like some help with that from someone powerful enough to assist you [microsoft.com] with all your ribbon needs?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 13 2019, @07:53AM
Dammit I can't tell if this should be modded troll or insightful.
+1 On point sarcasm ?
(Score: 5, Informative) by loic on Monday May 13 2019, @07:46AM
While the charging speed increase is rather interesting for heavy duty uses, the 50% increase in storage density is a major advance for us all.
(Score: 3, Funny) by EJ on Monday May 13 2019, @08:10AM
The corrugated structure of phosphorene nanoribbons means that the charged ions that power batteries could soon move up to 1000 times faster than currently possible.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 13 2019, @10:04AM (5 children)
Much of that cheap sodium is locked up in an ionic bond with chlorine. Separating the two is quite possible, but then leaves behind a lot of chlorine gas, itself pretty toxic stuff.
So it might be cheap, but it comes with a bad side.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday May 13 2019, @10:17AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DYRPuDQtB_5Y [youtube.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Monday May 13 2019, @01:26PM
That chlorine you are talking about, can be put to good use: with all the asocial idiots peeing into our pools https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/03/01/1822207 [soylentnews.org], we can take plenty. Let's kill two flies at one stroke.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Snow on Monday May 13 2019, @03:15PM (1 child)
Turn the Cl into HCl and sell it to industry.
(Score: 3, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Monday May 13 2019, @03:19PM
But then what will we do with all the extra oxy... oh, right.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Monday May 13 2019, @05:58PM
I'm doing my part splitting the two up. A saltwater pool for every home, higher capacity batteries and faster charging seems like a triple win.
(Score: 3, Touché) by bob_super on Monday May 13 2019, @07:36PM
"New battery tech* will revolutionize charging speed and capacity!"
*: Available in estimates based on promising early lab results. Check back with us in 5 to 10 years for estimates on potential commercialization progress and real-life durability studies.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 14 2019, @05:17PM
Here we go again. Yet another amazing super spectacular battery breakthrough. Yawn. Let me know when we *actually* see it *in use*. They've been promising for decades that I will be able to power my neighborhood off a battery the size of a wristwatch thanks to some new breakthrough. It *never* materializes.