An Interest In:
Web News this Week
- April 17, 2024
- April 16, 2024
- April 15, 2024
- April 14, 2024
- April 13, 2024
- April 12, 2024
- April 11, 2024
Researchers create self-healing batteries inspired by artificial robot skin
In the race to create a better battery, scientists have gazed longingly at silicon, prized for its ability to hold copious energy during charging. The material has a significant drawback, however: it likes to expand during said charging, causing it to eventually crack and become useless. However, scientists at Stanford's SLAC laboratory have developed silicon electrodes that repair themselves, inspired by -- of all things -- the latest research into robotic skin. They created a silicon polymer with weak chemical bonds which attract each other when the material cracks, allowing it to regain its shape in a few hours (as pictured above). The team managed a respectable 100 discharge cycles with a battery that used the material, a promising start but still far from their goal of 3000 cycles for an electric vehicle. You can add that to the growing pile of promising battery tech that may amount to something, some day -- but at least the odds keep getting better.
Filed under: Misc, Peripherals, Alt
Via: Forbes
Source: Nature
Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/18/self-healing-batteries-silicon-robot-skin/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_s
Engadget
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WIMore About this Source Visit Engadget