Scientists say paper battery could be in the works

[John Picard]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091207/sc_nm/us_battery_paper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by e-mail, e-books and online news.
Scientists at Stanford University in California reported on Monday they have successfully turned paper coated with ink made of silver and carbon nanomaterials into a "paper battery" that holds promise for new types of lightweight, high-performance energy storage.
The same feature that helps ink adhere to paper allows it to hold onto the single-walled carbon nanotubes and silver nanowire films. Earlier research found that silicon nanowires could be used to make batteries 10 times as powerful as lithium-ion batteries now used to power devices such as laptop computers.

Very interesting.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

I hope overcharging doesn't raise the temperature to 451 degrees.

 

[John Picard]

^^ What's interesting is that here, in Oklahoma, there is a great deal of effort being put into R&D of carbon nano technology manufacturing. Couple that with Weyhauser being one of the largest paper manufacturers with managed forests in the SE corner of the State, and we could be one of the largest manufacturers of paper batteries!

 

[CuttingEdge100]

How big will this battery be compared to a current Lithium Ion battery for the same power output?

 

[John Picard]

How big will this battery be compared to a current Lithium Ion battery for the same power output?

Apparently, smaller. I just learned from an article today that Lithium Ion are 40% larger than needed due to "venting". People don't understand that Lio batteries are potential bombs and very costly to manufacture, let alone the amount of energy and mining that goes into making them.

So much for being green

 

[CuttingEdge100]

So this would be 40% smaller by default by not needing venting and then 10 percent of whatever that is?