Electonics Breakthrough that will Revolutionize the Industry
Feb 3, 2016 10:32:10 GMT -6
Nugget, 727sky, and 2 more like this
Post by frank on Feb 3, 2016 10:32:10 GMT -6
While the demand for ever-smaller electronic devices has spurred the miniaturization of a variety of technologies, one area has lagged behind in this downsizing revolution: energy-storage units, such as batteries and capacitors.
I have been a remote control enthusiast since the middle 80's. The limiting factor in the performance of any RC, whether car or aircraft, has always been the power source, a ni-cad battery in the beginning, evolving into the ni-mh, and on to the current standard li-ion batteries that power everything from your stoopid smartphone to the Tesla Model S. Even as advanced as the li-ion technology is, it is still a huge limiting factor.....
The UCLA researchers have developed a groundbreaking technique that uses a DVD burner to fabricate micro-scale graphene-based supercapacitors — devices that can charge and discharge a hundred to a thousand times faster than standard batteries.
Super capacitors have always attracted my interest, and they have advanced tremendously since the days of us putting the biggest cap we could find on our rc cars to boost the off-line performance of them. However, until now the super capacitors have not been able to achieve the same energy density that batteries have...meaning they can deliver a very high amperage, short duration pulse of juice...not the best for a sustained application like driving your Tesla a couple of hundred miles.....
Kaner and El-Kady were able to fabricate these intricate supercapacitors using an affordable and scalable technique that they had developed earlier. They glued a layer of plastic onto the surface of a DVD and then coated the plastic with a layer of graphite oxide. Then, they simply inserted the coated disc into a commercially available LightScribe optical drive — traditionally used to label DVDs — and took advantage of the drive's own laser to create the interdigitated pattern.
The ability to produce these super capacitors with commonly available technology has got to be the feather in the cap.....to be able to make such a high capacity energy source for pennies compared to past manufacturing techniques virtually guarantees that this will change the world as we know it.....imagine wearing clothing that also doubles as a power source for your stooopid smart phone......
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I'll pass on being connected to electronic devices....
