Better "Batteries" On The Horizon?
As someone who has more than his share of battery-powered gizmos, the one thing I am constantly frustrated on every single one is battery life. From laptops to mobile phones to the battery-powered toys my kids have, in almost all cases, the batteries are getting replaced or recharged. Constantly.
Not to mention the environmental impact of the batteries. Even for rechargeable batteries, they eventually have to be thrown away. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to do the right thing and recycle those batteries.
Capacitors, which also store energy, have existed for at least as long as solid state electronics have been around. The problem with using capacitors is that they have historically not been able to store much energy. That and capacitors tend to release their stored energy fairly quickly.
I was very excited when I read an article on Physorg that suggests a new material may allow capacitors to store more energy- 7 times more. This is great because capacitors charge real fast-another complaint with charging batteries. Capacitors are also a lot more environmentally friendly than batteries, which use nasty chemicals to store energy for later use.
Who knows if or when these capacitors will make it into everyday products we use. If you have some insight or know of some breakthroughs in powering mobile devices for longer periods of time, share them in the comments.
