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Back to Capital Region Happenings August 14, 2007 Paper-thin
battery developed at RPI
Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute researchers have developed a
paper-thin battery that can work in temperatures ranging from 300 degrees
Fahrenheit to 100 degrees below zero. The discovery is
detailed in a paper "Flexible Energy Storage Devices Based on
Nanocomposite Paper" published in the Aug. 13 edition of Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, the official journal of the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences.
RPI said the fact that the nanoengineered battery looks and feels like
paper isn't an accident: more than 90 percent of the device is made up of
cellulose, the same plant cells used in newsprint, loose leaf paper, lunch
bags, and other paper products. Researchers infused
the paper with carbon nanotubes which act as electrodes and allow the
storage devices to conduct electricity. The device can work both as a
lithium-ion battery and a supercapacitor, and can provide the long, steady
power output comparable to a conventional battery, as well as a
supercapacitor's quick burst of high energy. "It's essentially
a regular piece of paper, but it's made in a very intelligent way,"
said Robert Linhardt, co-author of the published paper. |
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