Monday 16 March 2009

Battery charging cut to seconds

Australian
Friday 13/3/2009 Page: 3

THE days of waiting hours to charge a mobile phone or laptop computer could soon be over because of research that could transform battery technology in as little as two years. US scientists have invented a battery that can charge in seconds, promising a revolution in power storage that could also help green cars and renewable energy. The advance allows lithium-ion batteries, the standard variety used in consumer electronics and cells for electric or hybrid vehicles, both to charge and discharge stored energy faster than at present.

This should lead to smaller, lighter batteries for mobile phones and other devices, which can be fully charged when plugged in for a few seconds. The researchers, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have already made a small prototype cell that charges fully in 10 to 20 seconds, compared with six minutes for cells made in the standard way.

Gerbrand Ceder, professor of materials science and engineering at MIT, who led the research, said: "If you can charge your phone in 30 seconds, that becomes a life changer. It could change the way we think about technology like this: you would literally be able to charge up while you stand and wait." The technology has been nicknamed the "beltway battery", after the orbital motorway in Washington DC, because it uses a bypass system to let lithium-ions that carry charge to enter and leave the battery quicker.

As it involved a new approach to manufacturing lithium-ion battery materials, rather than a new material, it could be ready within two to three years, the researchers said. Electric car batteries may be able to charge in less than an hour, removing one of the main barriers to wider uptake of the vehicles. Solar and wind energy generation could also benefit, as better batteries could be used to store surplus energy.

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