Nanotech Ink Turns Paper Into a Low-Cost Battery 129
jangel writes "Stanford University researchers have demonstrated a way to turn ordinary paper into a battery, which may be crumpled or pressed into any form. It's said the technology promises greater durability, higher efficiency, and faster energy transfer than traditional batteries. The technique uses special ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. Thanks to the small diameters of these materials, the ink sticks strongly to the fibrous paper, allowing the battery to be extremely durable. The paper battery could last through 40,000 charge-discharge cycles — at least an order of magnitude more than lithium batteries. According to the researchers, the paper batteries will be low-cost, may be crumpled or folded, and can even be soaked in acidic or basic solutions, yet their performance does not degrade. 'We just haven't tested what happens when you burn it,' one of the researchers quipped." This is the same Stanford research team, lead by Yi Cui, whose work with nanotechnology for battery applications we have discussed before. We've also delved into alternate routes to the holy grail of the ultra-thin battery.
With thinking like that, we'd never get anywhere. (Score:5, Insightful)
What's the power density? If you need a dozen phonebooks worth of paper to store 100wH, never mind...
To power a car, sure. If space is ample, or energy requirements are minimal, then this could be very useful.
What's the ink made of? Oil? If so: never mind.
Where does this come from? If you think we're going to eliminate oil derived products anytime soon, think again. Oil isn't going away as a feedstock for the chemical industry. If your requirement is that nothing is ever tied to petroleum, just give up now. You won't get very far.
Re:With thinking like that, we'd never get anywher (Score:3, Insightful)
If your requirement is that nothing is ever tied to petroleum, just give up now. You won't get very far.
Won't get very far at a competitive cost anyways...
Re:With thinking like that, we'd never get anywher (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Nice, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
The story isn't entirely clear, but it does say "the technique uses special ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires". Based on that I would guess the ink may be made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires.
Burning test (Score:2, Insightful)
My guess is there will be some particularly nasty smoke when they do get around to testing it by burning.
Thousands of carbon naontubes wafting away contaminating the room, furnishings, clothes, your child's fluffy toys doesn't seem like a good idea.
I sure as heck don't want to be subject to inhaling carbon nanotubes. Not even one.