SUPER BATTERIES
A number of breakthroughs in battery technology could lead to ones that are longer-lasting and charge faster. In July 2017, a team of scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) came up with a novel solution to the former by using ‘molecular pulleys’ to increase lifetime. These held silicon inside the battery’s anode in place, allowing it to remain 98 per cent effective even after hundreds of cycles.
In 2015, meanwhile, Samsung unveiled a new rapid-charging technology that could recharge a phone in minutes. They used synthesised organic molecules inside their batteries to achieve the results, with ions moving more quickly in these batteries than others and thus charging faster.
And if capacity is your thing, we’ve got you covered. In 2016, scientists from the University of Central Florida (UCF) revealed their supercapacitor battery prototype, using metal materials the width of an atom wrapped in nanowires to greatly increase storage capacity.