2023-06-21 07:55:00
UC Irvine chemistry student Mya Le Thai has made a breakthrough by discovering a battery that can be recharged infinitely many times. This finding could solve one of the big problems associated with used batteries: their finiteness and difficulty of recycling.
As the use of electric cars and wireless devices increases, rechargeable batteries are becoming more common. However, their main limitation is that they have a finite number of recharges before becoming unusable and polluting.
The eternal battery proposed by Mya Le Thai would eliminate the need to change batteries, significantly reducing the pollution and waste associated with discarded electric batteries.
Traditionally, batteries have limited charging capacity due to their chemical nature. Although it varies depending on the materials used, they can generally be recharged between 1,000 and 8,000 times before losing their capacity.
Scientists have been investigating new materials to overcome these limitations, and one of them is gold nanowire batteries. These extremely thin and conductive nanowires are highly efficient at transferring and storing electrons. However, its fragility limits its lifespan to a few recharges.
Mya Le Thai found an innovative solution by dousing gold nanowires with manganese dioxide and wrapping them in a gel-based electrolyte similar to plexiglass. This combination strengthened the nanowires and made them virtually unbreakable.
After subjecting the treated gold nanowire battery to 200,000 continuous recharges for three months, the battery’s capacity remained intact. By comparison, a standard battery only lasts around 5,000 to 6,000 recharges. This discovery paves the way towards the creation of everlasting batteries applicable to common devices, such as batteries, mobile phones and automobiles.
Although the progress is currently in the laboratory environment, if this technique can be applied in the real world, the problem of used batteries could be solved, since they would last the entire useful life of the device. The future looks bright in terms of sustainability and waste reduction. Will we soon be facing a reality where users enjoy eternal batteries?
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