Common Paradox Tech Blog

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.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Reading the electronic-media narrative as it plays out in many popular tech and news blogs, one would think we are hurtling toward a future where paper is all but unnecessary.

But a new development in battery technology could bring paper right back around to its former place of prominence, using it to power the very digital devices — smartphones, Kindles, laptops, etc. — that are increasingly replacing print.

By coating regular copier paper in ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires, Stanford researchers have created highly conductive storage devices that can be bent, folded, and wrapped around other surfaces (energy-storing wallpaper, anyone?). The carbon nanotube ink adheres to the surface of the paper just like normal ink would, making paper the ideal vehicle for these thin, lightweight storage devices.

Since earlier research has shown that silicon nanowire batteries can be up to 10 times more powerful than lithium-ion batteries, researchers are hopeful the paper batteries will be able to power everything from automobiles to laptops to phones with smaller, lighter, more powerful and longer-lasting batteries. The method can also create simple supercapacitors with large surface areas that allow rapid energy discharge, a requirement for automobile power sources that lithium-ion batteries have trouble satisfying.

All of that would just be more pie-in-the-sky battery research if it were not for this: the paper battery technology is basically market-ready. That’s not to say that researchers won’t need some time to iron out the kinks, but power sources based on this technology could be commercialized very soon compared to a lot of the nano-noise circulating in scientific circles. The fact that the process is also very cheap means devices like these could be powering your paper-replacing devices sooner than you think. Get the details straight from Stanford’s Yi Cui below. [PhysOrg, Forbes]

Popular Science is your wormhole to the future. Reporting on what’s new and what’s next in science and technology, we deliver the future now.

It seems like we’re constantly hearing about promising battery technologies that could ultimately lead to longer battery life, more power, and smaller units, but as of yet, that big breakthrough hasn’t occurred. Maybe nanotechnology, which is the current hot topic in the battery innovations field, will prove to be different.

Right at this moment, a ton of research is being put into carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for a bunch of uses, including electronics and batteries. Researchers are drawn to CNTs because, according to them, carbon nanotubes are near perfect. That has paved the way for a professor and a UC San Diego graduate student to discover a breakthrough that involves introducing purposeful defects into CNT structures. By doing so, the ‘defective’ CNTs actually work better for the development of super capacitors, DailyTech reports.

"While batteries have large storage capacity, they take a long time to charge; while electrostatic capacitors can charge quickly but typically have limited capacity. However, super capacitors electrochemical capacitors incorporate the advantages of both," Professor Prabhakar Bandaru said.

The duo also discovered that other methods, such as bombarding CNTs with argon or hydrogen, could also increase or decrease the charge capacity. In the end, the two researchers believe that their discovery could ultimately lead to electronics that charge faster and last longer than what’s available today.

Image Credit: jacobsschool.ucsd.edu

It seems like we’re constantly hearing about promising battery technologies that could ultimately lead to longer battery life, more power, and smaller units, but as of yet, that big breakthrough hasn’t occurred. Maybe nanotechnology, which is the current hot topic in the battery innovations field, will prove to be different.

Right at this moment, a ton of research is being put into carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for a bunch of uses, including electronics and batteries. Researchers are drawn to CNTs because, according to them, carbon nanotubes are near perfect. That has paved the way for a professor and a UC San Diego graduate student to discover a breakthrough that involves introducing purposeful defects into CNT structures. By doing so, the ‘defective’ CNTs actually work better for the development of super capacitors, DailyTech reports.

"While batteries have large storage capacity, they take a long time to charge; while electrostatic capacitors can charge quickly but typically have limited capacity. However, super capacitors electrochemical capacitors incorporate the advantages of both," Professor Prabhakar Bandaru said.

The duo also discovered that other methods, such as bombarding CNTs with argon or hydrogen, could also increase or decrease the charge capacity. In the end, the two researchers believe that their discovery could ultimately lead to electronics that charge faster and last longer than what’s available today.

Image Credit: jacobsschool.ucsd.edu

This week on TreeHugger.com, bacteria that glows when it senses landmines, grass-covered computer mouses, a super sponge that absorbs anything but water, an awesome Garmin GPS add-on greens your driving, and more…

Scientists Create Bacteria that Lights Up Around Landmines
It seems like something straight out of a science fiction film, but this new bacteria is very real – it actually glows when it senses the presence of a landmine.

Silo Ink Reduces Printer Waste, Saves 80% on Ink Expenses
The cartridges hook up to your printer’s existing cartridges and not only reduce waste and are refillable, but will save you 80% on the cost of ink.

Grass-Covered Computer Mouse (…and Cell Phone, and Car, and…)
Is this the new wave of accessories to go along with all the bamboo-covered computer devices on the market? Japanese artist Hanaoka likes to cover stuff in grass.

Awesome Art for Green Geeks – Mona Lisa Made of Motherboards
This Mona Lisa is in the lobby of the headquarters of ASUS in Peitou, Taiwan. It looks like a photomosaic, but the pixilated Mona Lisa is a bit more geeky than that.

Garmin Eco-Route Add-on Turns Your GPS Into a Green-Driving Teacher
A new add-on cable that can plug into your car’s diagnostics communication port and feed that real-time data to your GPS device.

Does Our Water Really Come From Outer Space?
A new theory poses that our water was actually a chemical hitchhiker, finding a home on Earth after being brought here as ice on incoming meteors. In other words – alien water!

Swarms of Tiny Robotic Ocean Explorers to Help With Marine Preservation…Or Become Fish Food (Video)
Lots of little robots called autonomous underwater explorers (AUEs) might be swimming with you on your next trip to the beach.

Carbon Nanotube Sponge Can Absorb Toxic Oils and Solvents up to 180x Its Weight!
Scientists have created a sponge made of carbon nanotubes that can absorb organic pollutants from the surface of water up to 180x its weight (!) without absorbing water (see video below to see how light it is).

Tech Chest Turns Luggage Into Hide-Away Computer Case
One part neat upcycling, and one part Steampunk, one part James Bond, this PC case is fantastic. You know you want one.

TreeHugger’s EcoModo column appears every week on Gizmodo.

That tiny, plastic-looking black cube up there can absorb up to 180 times its own weight in toxic waste without absorbing any water. How? As with just about every amazing and/or inexplicable scientific breakthrough nowadays, the answer is spelled N-A-N-O.

Researchers at the Peking and Tsinghua Universities have adapted carbon nanotubes into a sponge-like material which can be squeezed dry, which sounds like extremely exciting news for the infomercial cleaning product industry. One minor detail:

since carbon nanotubes are hydrophobic, there’s no modification required to make them not absorb water.

For the record, that includes mysteriously blue infomercial demo water, so there goes that. If not ABSORBING 20 TIMES AS MUCH WATER AS ITS LEADING COMPETITOR, what exactly is this new type of sponge good for? Environmental cleanup, evidently. See, instead of just dropping dispersants into the middle of an oil or chemical spill—which forces the spill to simply absorb into the water—these nanosponges could be used to sop up the spill, after which they could theoretically be wrung dry and reused, like so:

It’s an amazing idea, but I get the feeling that carbon nanotube sponges, riskily abbreviated as CNT sponges, aren’t exactly cheap. [Materials View via Treehugger]

SkinnyGuy writes “Carbon nanofibers and nanotubes are the future of computers, cars, energy and more, but it won’t happen until someone figures out how to make carbon nanotubes more efficiently and in formations that can deliver enough energy and functionality to offer practical solutions for real world problems. Honda’s latest breakthrough could be the first step. Of course, Intel is working on similar carbon nanotube fabrication technology. Whoever finally delivers a practical solution, it sounds like a win-win for us.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SkinnyGuy writes “Carbon nanofibers and nanotubes are the future of computers, cars, energy and more, but it won’t happen until someone figures out how to make carbon nanotubes more efficiently and in formations that can deliver enough energy and functionality to offer practical solutions for real world problems. Honda’s latest breakthrough could be the first step. Of course, Intel is working on similar carbon nanotube fabrication technology. Whoever finally delivers a practical solution, it sounds like a win-win for us.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SkinnyGuy writes “Carbon nanofibers and nanotubes are the future of computers, cars, energy and more, but it won’t happen until someone figures out how to make carbon nanotubes more efficiently and in formations that can deliver enough energy and functionality to offer practical solutions for real-world problems. Honda’s latest breakthrough could be the first step. Of course, Intel is working on similar carbon nanotube fabrication technology. Whoever finally delivers a practical solution, it sounds like a win-win for us.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.