Do you think the 10-hour battery life on your iPad 2 is impressive? Imagine 100 hours of battery life, it may not be that far off.
That’s what engineers at Northwestern University have technically accomplished with their new lithium-ion battery technology. By poking millions of tiny holes in it, the battery can hold a charge ten times longer and can recharge ten times faster. In the future, these super batteries could dramatically reduce how often we have to recharge our mobile devices. The engineers predict the batteries could potentially get into the consumer market within five years.
Dr. Harold Kung of Northwestern University said they are able to make all of this possible because they discovered how to squeeze more ions into the battery and increase their movement speed. With the new technology, a typical mobile phone would charge to 100 percent in only 15 minutes, yet last for an entire week on that single charge.
Kung doesn’t see long-term use as an issue either, stating “Even after 150 charges, which would be one year or more of operation, the battery is still five times more effective than lithium-ion batteries on the market today.” He and his team are continuing to work on the incomplete battery technology to make further improvements. Meanwhile, let’s start that five-year countdown.
[via BBC]