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Nanotech Ink Turns Paper Into a Low-Cost Battery

jangel writes "Stanford University researchers have demonstrated a way to turn ordinary paper into a battery, which may be crumpled or pressed into any form. It's said the technology promises greater durability, higher efficiency, and faster energy transfer than traditional batteries. The technique uses special ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. Thanks to the small diameters of these materials, the ink sticks strongly to the fibrous paper, allowing the battery to be extremely durable. The paper battery could last through 40,000 charge-discharge cycles — at least an order of magnitude more than lithium batteries. According to the researchers, the paper batteries will be low-cost, may be crumpled or folded, and can even be soaked in acidic or basic solutions, yet their performance does not degrade. 'We just haven't tested what happens when you burn it,' one of the researchers quipped." This is the same Stanford research team, lead by Yi Cui, whose work with nanotechnology for battery applications we have discussed before. We've also delved into alternate routes to the holy grail of the ultra-thin battery.

16 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. fancy ink by trb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ink made out of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires? That will be almost as expensive as inkjet ink.

  2. Re:What's the energy density? by jd2112 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope I don't have to carry around a copy of "War and Peace" just to power my phone.

    No, but it will power your Kindle.

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    Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
  3. Re:Burning by WGFCrafty · · Score: 3, Funny

    Self lighting joints which read out how many drags you have left on a little e-ink burnable screen!

    Made completely of cellulose! (and carbon nano-tubes)

  4. Re:What's the energy density? by sentientbeing · · Score: 5, Funny

    No duh. You carry around a jpg of the battery on your phone. When your battery is about to die, you go to a network printer, print off the jpg and replace the new battery.

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    beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his mind he dreams himself your master
  5. Re:Yawn by Mitchell314 · · Score: 2, Funny

    It'll wake you up alright.

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    I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
  6. Re:Nice, but... by Eternauta3k · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's the ink made of? Oil?

    Baby seals

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    Yeah. Would you choose a neurosurgeon who pokes around people's brains in his spare time? I wouldn't.
  7. Re:Cost of silver by whowantscream · · Score: 4, Funny

    How much silver is actually sued in these batteries?

    IANAL, but I can't imagine what case one could bring against the silver in those batteries...

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    Nobody? OK no cream.
  8. Re:Very cool by larry+bagina · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't think Yi Cui is a traditional WASP name.

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    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  9. Re:Very cool by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 2, Funny

    But blacks have huge penises.

    That may not matter to you, but it matters to your ex-girlfriend who left you for the power-forward of her college basketball team. When a man has a huge penis, none of what you wrote matters to the women he is seeing.

    The puny white man is nothing compared to the prime specimens of humanity. Blacks were bred since the slave days to be bigger, faster, stronger, and more desirable from an evolutionary standpoint.

    Women don't want to hear your babbling about Leonhard Euler or atmospheric wave propagation. They want big, strong, manly men who speak slowly and in deep voices, using as few words as possible.

    In the end, his genes will be passed down to the mulatto baby. Not yours, his.

  10. Re:Cost of silver by daveime · · Score: 2, Funny

    Being the same shade as a Pantone Copyrighted Color Swatch ?

  11. Re:Nice, but... by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 4, Funny

    What's the ink made of? Oil?

    Baby seals

    Which are a proven renewable resource!

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    Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  12. Just Wow! by Linker3000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you tie a length of this paper into a Möbius strip, do you get an infinite power source - or just AC?

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    AT&ROFLMAO
  13. Re:Nice, but... by CarpetShark · · Score: 4, Funny

    How fast an you charge it without it bursting into flames?

    With a spear, or on horseback?

  14. Re:Nice, but... by squidfood · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think this is one of those ideas that just sounds good on paper.

  15. Re:Nice, but... by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Warranty void if seal is broken.

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    Not a sentence!
  16. Re:Nice but... by mhajicek · · Score: 3, Funny

    You could have a battery on a credit card, and call it your "Charge Card".