If there’s one thing about current smartphones we can all agree on, it’s that their batteries just don’t last long enough. Sure, there are devices out there like Motorola’s Droid RAZR MAXX and the Galaxy Note II that come with massive batteries that last a long time but, they’re fundamentally the same battery – just bigger. This is why over the next few years, the focus for a lot of companies going forward is going to be reducing the power drain on our smartphones, and more importantly making sure our batteries are up to the challenge.
These days, if you want a smartphone’s battery to last a long time you have to seek out a certain device with a large battery, and they take a pretty long time to charge. Tablet users will be familiar with this, there’s no point in charging your tablet from your PC or Laptop over USB; you’ll be there forever. It’s the same for our phones but, there is battery technology – that might not be too far off – that could put a stop to all of this. Over at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers are close to delivering a battery that is thinner than anything that’s gone before, will charge in seconds and is close to 2,000 times more powerful than existing tech.
“This is a whole new way to think about batteries,” King said. “A battery can deliver far more power than anybody ever thought. In recent decades, electronics have gotten small. The thinking parts of computers have gotten small. And the battery has lagged far behind. This is a microtechnology that could change all of that. Now the power source is as high-performance as the rest of it.”
William P. King is the man leading the research and it seems that they’ve made some real progress. For a long time now, devices have been able to release a large amount of energy but, store very little of it. With these new microbatteries both is possible, in measures thought previously impossible. This new battery technology could have applications far beyond our smartphones lasting a lot longer, they could greatly increase smartphones’ ability to broadcast to cell towers and so on.
It’s really encouraging to see battery technology like this really take off, and while it certainly might not be exciting, it’s going to be very important going forward. Our smartphones might well be getting thinner again – and not due to their massive displays – and our batteries getting better and better. For those more inclined to hear about the nitty-gritty science involved, take a look at the source link.
What could you do with such a powerful battery?
[Source: University of Illinois]