The battery hasn’t advanced in decades big smartphone technology and car companies are all too aware of the limitations of lithium-ion batteries.
Samsung has managed to develop “graphene balls” that are capable of boosting the capacity of its current lithium-ion batteries by 45 per cent, and and recharging five times faster than current batteries. To put that into context, Samsung says its new graphene-based battery can be recharged fully in 12 minutes, compared to roughly an hour for the current unit.
A new fuel cell has been developed that could mean phones only need to charge once a week and drones stay airborne for over an hour.
The result is a battery that’s more durable and longer lasting than lithium-ion.
Urine powered batteries
The Bill Gates Foundation is funding further research by Bristol Robotic Laboratory who discovered batteries that can be powered by urine. It’s efficient enough to charge a smartphone which the scientists have already shown off.
Graphene batteries are the future. One company has developed a new battery, called Grabat, that could offer electric cars a driving range of up to 500 miles on a charge.
It can charge and discharge 33 times faster than lithium ion. Discharge is also crucial for things like cars that want vast amounts of power in order to pull away quickly.
Sodium-ion batteries, that use salt, have been used in laptops following the creation of a prototype by the French network of researchers and industrial firms called RS2E.
The StoreDot uses biological semiconductors made from naturally occurring organic compounds known as peptides – short chains of amino acids – which are the building blocks of proteins. The result is a charger that can recharge gadgets in mere seconds.
Using a Microbial Fuel Cell, micro-organisms take the urine, break it down and output electricity.