Charge it up, baby

Damian Koh | Jun 12, 2006

It could be a matter of months before we see the first prototype of a battery that could charge in a few seconds. You heard it, long gone are the days when you have to wait (for hours) for your cell to recharge.

Joel Schindall and his team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are developing a new battery that could make "long charge times and expensive replacements a thing of a past" by relying on the capacitor which was invented by Ewald Georg von Kleist of Pomerania in October 1745.

The MIT team discovered that by covering the two electrodes in the capacitor with millions of nanotubes, it would increase the surface area of the electrodes and allow the capacitor to store more energy. According to Schindall, this method would combine the strengths of today's batteries with the longevity and speed of capacitors.

If you own a hybrid car, this new battery could possibly help you save the cost of replacing expensive hybrid cells. Schindall adds that these batteries can be discharged and charged hundreds of thousands of times, essentially lasting longer than the life of the equipment it is associated with.

These cells had better be cheaper than our hybrid vehicles for we won't want to change our cars just to outlast the battery.

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