Every year massive amount of used batteries are added to the landfill sites across the globe, which continue polluting environment, as their recycle rate is less and they are not biodegradable. However, researchers worldwide are trying hard to come up with eco-friendly battery innovations to help us all sustain the environment. Following are some of the latest and most impressive innovations in this field:
Ultra-Lightweight, Bendable Batteries
This particular innovation seems to be a breakthrough in green technologies of today. Stanford scientists have come up with an unbelievable concept, wherein they will be harnessing nanotechnology and create ultra-lightweight batteries. They are bendable because they will be making it using paper. An ink prepared with silver nanowires and nanotubes will coat the paper.
Silver nanowires are highly conductive storage devices and nanomaterials are special, as they are one-dimensional structures that have a very small diameter. This small diameter plays a crucial role to stick the nanomaterial ink firmly onto the fibrous paper, thus, making the battery durable.
More Power from Lithium-Ion Batteries
Dr. Yet-Ming Chiang has become a prominent name in the lithium-ion battery industry owing to his remarkable contribution since 2010. Now his efforts with his research group have invented a lithium ion battery that is highly efficient in terms of both its performance and its price as well. It comes with a price tag almost fifty percent lesser than the other batteries, is around five times higher in capacity, and is eco-friendly. It is eco-friendly because the battery cell is easiest to recycle.
Recharging Batteries Faster
The conventional process to recharge batteries was a time consuming, such as your laptop. Mobile phone or any other gadget takes quite a good time to recharge. However, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) scientists are working hard on a concept that will establish a new charge speed limit. Project is in progress and the scientists are hopeful that this battery will be able to recharge devices in seconds, which undoubtedly a life changing event we all are looking up to. Plug in the device and in a few seconds, it is completely charged, how cool that is.
Researchers have named this technology the “beltway battery” that uses a bypass system. That system allows lithium-ions to enter and leave the battery with a blazing speed. The science behind this technology is that by coating particles of lithium iron phosphate in a glassy material (lithium pyrophosphate), the ions start behaving differently.
Biodegradable batteries
Old batteries every year contribute a lot to the landfill sites worldwide, sitting there and polluting the atmosphere because recycling rates are low and they are not biodegradable. As a way out to this severe environmental problem, some researchers in US and Sweden have developed a battery that is made of a wood-based foam substance known as aerogel.
Wood pulp is the primary material used to make this battery, which is lightweight, elastic, and is highly efficient. As of now, there are no plans of introducing this battery for common use, as its mass production is facing quite many problems, as it is expensive. Probably five to ten years from now, we will be able to use it, or may be much before that.
Air-Fueled Battery for Electric Cars
Electric cars depend upon batteries for all their functioning. Electric car owners usually worry about one thing only, as to how durable the battery is, and how long the battery works without charging it again. Numerous innovations regarding electric car batteries have already made inroads in our lives and this new one is in the process, i.e. the battery that consumes air as fuel. The battery will be compatible to all the renewable energy resources like wind, solar energy and oxygen. They will have increased storage capacity that will enable batteries to run for long periods.
Numerous batteries with eco-friendly structure and design are on their way into our lives, so that we can do our bit to sustain the environment.
