If you thought lithium - ion batteries catch firing were dangerous , how about a portable mightiness source that actually relies on igniting its fuel from the get - go ? That ’s jolly much what a new shelling alternative developed at MIT does .
A few years ago , researchers found that they could coat a foresighted thin carbon copy carbon nanotube — like a tack of graphene enfold into a close cylinder — in combustible material . Letting it burn from one end , like a farseeing wick or electrical fuse , they notice that the the organization generated a tiny electric current . The estrus pulse advertise electrons along the tube , creating a current .
Since , researcher at MIT have been sample to fine-tune the rather clunky process . While the approach remains broadly like , the squad — lead by MIT ’s Michael Strano — has now improve the efficiency of the system by a gene of 10,000 . The secret lies in the coating : The nanotubes are now coated in sucrose , while the first adaptation used explosive materials .
The answer is a power source that , pound - for - pound , provide a similar power turnout to forward-looking batteries . But the researchers claim that , unlike most batteries , the system could sit indefinitely without losing power . There ’s also scope for the proficiency to produce ( hopefully carefully controlled ) forgetful bursts of might that are far high than batteries can manage . The inquiry is published inEnergy & Environmental Science .
It is , however , still very much in its former stages , and the mobile phone create so far are only big enough to power some modest LED lights . So it might be a little while yet before ignition in your battery is a good thing .
[ Energy & Environmental ScienceviaTechXplore ]
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