A team of researchers have revealed how tiny nanometre fuses could provide ultra powerful batteries with over 100 times more power by weight than standard units. Using tiny tubes which are then covered with a chemical fuel, power is created as each “fuse” begins to burn.
Heralding that the discovery could change the battery sector for ever, the report published in Nature Materials added that one huge advantage would be that the nanotube devices would not lose power if they were left for long periods of time, unlike that of traditional batteries which can leak. Coating the outside of cylinders only a billionth of a metre in length with cyclotrimethylene trinitramine, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Michael Strano explained “One property that nanotubes have is that they conduct heat very, very well along their length, up to a hundred times faster than in metals. We asked what would happen if you perform a chemical reaction near one of these, and the first thing we found is the nanotube will guide the reaction, accelerating it up to 10,000 times.”
The new batteries, which would only take a small touch to initiate the chemical reaction, are also far more environmentally friendly than their traditional counterparts, not needing toxic and non-renewable materials to be made. Dr Strano explained that though currently the battery is only for one time use, the technology could be put to greater use. “I’m interested in the fuel cell concept. The conventional fuel cell has been around since the 1800s but corrosive fuels, catalytic deactivation and complexity have been a hurdle,” he said. “From an engineering standpoint, thermopower waves could be a very simple alternative. What we’ve discovered is more than just a replacement for batteries. To our knowledge, it’s a new scientific area for research. There are many, many questions about these waves: what their limits are what the applications might be.”
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