New Breakthroughs and Developments in Battery Technology: Battery Technology: Eco20/20

New Breakthroughs and Developments in Battery Technology

Batteries have been in the last decades a necessity in our lives but now that city life cannot be imagined without portable devices they are even more important. Battery technology, influenced by the worldwide environmental phenomenon, is one of the fields that scientists are most concerned with.

If we take into account the battery breakthroughs that occurred in the last two or three years then it won't be difficult to assume that the way we use batteries today is going to change significantly in the near future.

The major battery improvements scientists are currently working on encompass three aspects: efficiency, mobility, and lifespan.

Lifespan

There is currently a lot of work done by scientists all around the globe on maximizing how long a battery lasts. These projects already show promising results. Scientists try to reduce the time required to charge a battery to a few minutes while increasing the lifespan to a couple of years. The major drawback of their work up to this point is size. Outstanding results have been achieved on a small scale but at the moment the technical developments do not permit the implementation of these new generation batteries on a large scale. However, scientists are optimistic and claim that in a few years we might have these ultra efficient batteries in our mobile devices, laptops, or even electric cars.

Efficiency

Alternative forms of battery chemistry and technology are being developed even as we speak. Research in this area is powered by nanotechnology which recently gave birth to an experimental nanobattery which uses energy on the atomic level.

Another exciting prospect are batteries that can be attached to clothing. They will be both a fashion accessory and power source for various hand-held devices. Though it is unlikely that these technologies will be available to the public in the next two or three years, they will sooner or later be implemented and then the batteries we use today will become obsolete.

Mobility

Batteries are becoming smaller and smaller without losing their efficiency. The improvements on battery versatility is driven by the ever increasing popularity mobile devices enjoy. Scientists in South Korea have managed a few years ago to design a battery as thin as paper. Even though the large scale use of this battery is not yet possible, we can expect the implementation of ultra-small batteries in the next generations of mobile devices.

Some of the battery improvements that are to come at first glance seem outstanding and to some, unlikely to be ever used by the majority of people. But weren't many of the things that we take for granted today considered experimental when they were first developed? Let's take a look at rechargeable batteries. Tiny lithium-ion batteries are now everywhere, in all portable electronic devices like laptops, mobile phones, iPods, or eBook readers. Most people carry at least one such small rechargeable lithium-ion battery with them for most of the day, and nobody is struck by awe because of it. The same might also happen with the above mentioned battery breakthroughs, so never say never.