An organic membrane may be the world’s next best battery and may revolutionize energy storage as we know it – it can bear far more energy than capacitors can, and can charge quicker than ever. Not to mention that it’s also dead-cheap.
The energy-storing membrane has been invented by a team from the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative from Singapore, led by Dr. Xie Xian Ning.
It uses a polystyrene-based polymer to deposit the soft and foldable membrane converted from organic waste. Two graphite plates charge the membrane at 0.2 farads per square centimeter. Compare that with the maximum of 1 farad of an ordinary capacitor and you’ve figured out we have something big here.
What’s more important than the storage capacity (or at least as important), is the price of $0.62 per farad, compared to the $7 per farad of normal liquid electrolyte capacitors in use nowadays.
Dr. Xie said: “Compared to rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors, the proprietary membrane allows for very simple device configuration and low fabrication cost. Moreover, the performance of the membrane surpasses those of rechargeable batteries, such as lithium ion and lead-acid batteries, and supercapacitors.”
“With the advent of our novel membrane, energy storage technology will be more accessible, affordable, and producible on a large scale. It is also environmentally-friendly and could change the current status of energy technology,” he added.
It’ll take a while until the team will finish studying all of the aspects involved in making this membrane work in all kinds of circumstances, from iPads to EVs, but I guess that we’ll have working prototypes in a few years – the market needs this kind of products like hot bread.
Let’s only think of the advantages such a membrane-based battery would give the world. First of all, it would be safer than any of the lithium ion batteries used today. Its weight would be heavily reduced, while the vehicles wearing it would be able to have it embedded in the chassis, not disturbing the car’s weight distribution. Finally, the price will tell the difference, because if such an invention will be brought to the market at ridiculous prices, gasoline won’t stand a chance.
What do you think?
[via cleantechnica]
Either the math in this article is horribly wrong, or the author has an incomplete understanding of electrical equivalencies. 1 Farad = .5 joules, 1kwh = 3.6 Megajoules. To replace a Tesla S battery (85kwh) at $.62 per farad would cost 3,600,000 * 85 * .62 =~ $180 Million. A 1 Farad capacitor costs about $2 in quantity, so this would be able to replace existing capacitors, but is nowhere near lithium batteries.