Stanford’s Paper Battery
Carbon nanotubes have been making headlines recently with a multitude of different applications and proposed uses (including use in solar cells, cancer treatment, and space elevators). The incredibly small pieces of carbon are remarkably strong, capable of a 28,000,000:1 diameter to length ratio (meaning a one millimeter wide tube can be as long as 28 million millimeters, or 17.4 miles). Plus, they are only 1/50,000th of the width of a human hair!
Using these remarkable little tubes, Stanford University has come up with one of the most interesting applications yet - a paper battery. In a video posted on YouTube, Professor Yi Cui shows the process of cutting a piece from 8.5" by 11" paper, covering it in an ink that contains carbon nanotubes and silver nanowire. After they bake the liquid of the ink off, they dip in it an electrolyte solution that allows the chemical reaction that takes place in conventional batteries to occur. Finally, they encase it in some sort of housing and hook it up to whatever needs powering!
This video shows the process a little better than I can explain it:
To top it all off, paper batteries like these are 20% lighter than existing types of batteries that are made of mostly metal, so might be able to find great advantages in portable technologies.
Sources: BBC (via Engadget)
