Slashdot Mirror
Plastic Batteries Coming Soon?
Roland Piquepaille writes "Engineers at Brown University have built a prototype of a hybrid plastic battery that uses a conductive polymer. The system, which marries the power of a capacitor with the storage capacity of a battery, can store and deliver power efficiently. For example, during performance testing, 'it delivered more than 100 times the power of a standard alkaline battery.' Still, it's unlikely that such a device can appear on the market before several years."
How long, on average, does it take for a new technology (especially battery related) to reach the market, after an announcement like this?
I ask, because I've been reading slashdot for over 4 years, and it seems like there's a healthy number of "revolutionary power supply" breakthroughs, or "batteries that will change your life (for cheap!)," and today, my new laptop still dies after an hour and a half.
I don't mean to be a cynic, but it really feels like these ideas never make it out of the lab.
Ah, Roland the Plogger again.
First, this isn't about a battery with a 100x higher energy density. That would be a major breakthrough. It's about one with a high peak power, for surge applications. That's a specialty item.
It's also been done. Flat batteries with high peak-power outputs were invented over 25 years ago at Polaroid, for the PolaPulse battery. One of those was in every Polaroid film pack for years. It could put out 15 amps for a brief period, providing plenty of power to run the camera mechanism. (Since, in that camera, the battery had to power the mechanism that squeezed the film between the development rollers, substantial power was required for about one second.) The battery chemistry wasn't rechargeable, although there's no reason a rechargeable chemistry couldn't have been put in that packaging.
PolaPulse batteries are still available, and turn up now and then when a flat battery with a high peak current is needed. One amusing use of PolaPulse batteries is StartMeUp, which is a pocket-sized unit with six PolaPulse batteries used to restart a car.
Several other manufacturers claim to make flat batteries, some of which are rechargeable. However, none of the manufacturers mentioned in that article actually seem to be shipping product.
Maybe he's British . . or Australian?
Three days from now?? Thats tomorrow!! ~Peter Griffin
Sick, depraved bastard.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Roland Piquepaille is a fucking nut-sack smoocher
If a battery can be recharged quickly (as in much much quicker than your Li-ion laptop battery) it could find good applications in mobile devices you use often. Not the torch you have laying around for a power outage, but say a mobile phone or mp3 player. Short charge times means high charge currents, so a laptop probably doesn't fit the category.
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What you see here is a prime example of deceptive research results. 100x power in this case, just means 100x the peak amperage available - not 100x the energy density. The misleading quote was probably intentional, so as to lure potential investors or grant writers into thinking this project is on the verge of a major breakthrough. The reality is that they are simply rehashing existing work looking for a different angle. They have not created anything better or even really different than what is already commercially produced, such as SuperCaps.
In Europe, the car manufacturers, including General Motors, are steadily improving fuel efficiency of their vehicles, to the point that a european car can do about the same number of miles per litre as an american car can do per gallon.
This probably has something to do with the fact that british petrol costs about the same per litre as american petrol does per gallon.
Incidentally, there are cars here that do 80mpg. Not by using some magic carburetor technology, but by things like not being the same size as a London double decker bus and using hybrid engines.
Practical, as in workable, technically feasable, yes.
Practical as in 'Economical', no.
Practical as in having no disadvantages over gasoline? Not yet.
Practical as in having enough advantages over their disadvantages, as compared to gasoline power? Not Yet.
Look at the spread of CDs, then DVDs, No longer did you need to worry about rewinding, can instantly chapter forward, no worry about magnets, overall smaller form factor, etc...
Then look at the popularity of LCD monitors. While say the color accuracy is worse, that doesnt' matter to most consumers. Meanwhile they're smaller, lighter, take less power, don't have flicker from refresh rates, etc...
Now, give LiIon technology some time to drop in price even more, gasoline to increase again and the equations might change. But by my last figuring, you'd have to drive as much as a taxi in order to even approach the pay off point, and it'd better be all city driving.
I don't read AC A human right
Try that with a car battery and let me know how it turns out.