跳至主要内容
Better batteries ahead mean big changes for mobility
Like Us on Facebook

Tired of having your battery drain too fast on your phone? Some amazing new developments are taking place in the realm of batteries. Find out what's coming next.

I went on a camping trip last month in the next town over from mine, a rural community where 3G/4G mobile access is as a sparse as the thinly-populated countryside itself. As is usually the case in these situations, my Samsung Galaxy struggled gamely to get a signal, causing it to chew through battery life like a New Year's Eve partygoer popping Advil on January 1. My robust ZeroLemon extended battery drained within a day even after I switched it to airplane mode, and attempting to charge it with my Energizer Instant Charger (which runs on AA batteries) merely resulted in a flurry of annoying "connect your charger" prompts; no actual charging took place. I wound up charging the phone in my vehicle but even after a couple of hours I only got about 22% more life out of the battery, which was exhausted by 10 p.m. Lights out.



Nowadays poor battery life and the travails we engage in to try to keep them on life support are, in a word, absurd. We have devices in our pockets that are more powerful than anything NASA could boast of 40 years ago, and still we are held back by battery limitations. It's like having to hand-crank a Ferrari to get it to start - or worse, having to kill the engine then crank it up at every stoplight.

Is the day coming when we won't have to engage in this time-consuming dance? Well, yes, it is.

According to Science Daily, "Scientists [at Nangyang Technological University in Singapore] have developed a new battery that can be recharged up to 70 per cent in only 2 minutes. The battery will also have a longer lifespan of over 20 years." Furthermore, it can be charged up to 20 times more than current models.

While the context of the article relates to electric vehicle batteries, this is a new kind of lithium ion battery which will also apply to smartphones and many other objects requiring portable power.

How is this new battery different?
Lithium ion batteries were developed well over thirty years ago, and though they've advanced since their original versions the deficiencies are still painful. These new batteries contain titanium dioxide which is affordable, plentiful and safe. It's currently in use within paint and solar panels, for instance. The titanium dioxide particles are turned into a gel which makes up nanotubes much smaller than a typical hair. The size and structure of the nanotubes and the properties of the gel - which is tough and resistant to deterioration - work more efficiently than current batteries to facilitate rapid battery charging.

Reports thus far don't indicate that the new battery provides more power capacity or lasts longer after a full charge than contemporary batteries, but the breakthrough here is the quick recharge time and the long lifespan of the battery, allowing it to potentially be used for decades (and I hope this spurs cell phone manufacturers to standardize on one kind of battery which can be transplanted across various models both current and future).

Using existing power sources or portable rechargers a smartphone could be fully powered up in 3 minutes, according to the current projection of charging capability - although it's not clear whether existing charger cables could possibly pass such a high amount of wattage within that time span. Cable upgrades may go hand-in-hand with this kind of battery. However, this is minor in the overall scheme of things. Since the battery will last much longer there will be fewer discards and less worry about the main battery dying on a road trip - which is why I carry two spares. Even desperate situations like recharging smartphones in an airport terminal while waiting to board a flight will be made easier.

This isn't the only "new and improved battery" in the game, however - nor do they all seem to find the light of day. A year and a half ago a similar advance in lithium ion technology was announced (and about which the current status is unclear) which claimed to be "2,000 times more powerful, recharges 1,000 times faster." And lithium ion may not necessarily be the only way to go; dual carbon batteries are also reportedly under development (as of last May) which claim to "charge 20x faster than lithium ion." However, this battery developed at Nangyang Technological University may have an advantage going for it: it matches current manufacturing processes meaning these don't need to be expanded or revised, and that will help further its development.

Can you believe this? Are you looking forward to seeing this product to be produced?

Like Us on Facebook

评论

发表评论

此博客中的热门博文

Should power bank be charged full night for the first time? Mostly, when we buy a phone, we would unconsciously ask that how long to charge the phone for the first time? Likewise, when buy a power bank, we would ask ourselves the same question. So, how long to charge power bank for the first time? Same as the phone’s battery, the battery of power bank needs to be charged a bit longer before the first time using.  Taking Heloideo’s power banks for example, they are all made of Li-Ion battery. Nothing complicated, when charging the power bank, we could refer to the built-in LED indicators. Or Heloideo Dual USB Ports 11000mAh Power Bank, it has 4 LED indicators, thus each one is for 25% power on average. Is that full of charge when all 4 indicators are on? When contacting with Heloideo power bank product managers and engineers, it’s not that kind of situation. Actually, when 4 indicators are on, there’s only 95% power. Why? —— Firs...
发表评论
阅读全文
How to Revive a Cell Phone Battery (2) Like Us on Facebook In a previous blog, I introduced a method of How to Revive a Cell Phone Battery. Now I will introduce you another method. Let’s go. Method 2--Freezing the Battery 1. Remove the battery from your phone. 2. Place it inside a sealed plastic bag in addition to a sealed plastic container. This will prevent it from getting wet. Do not use paper bags or foils as water can easily penetrate these materials. 3. Place the sealed battery inside the freezer, and leave it overnight or at least 12 hours. By exposing the battery to low temperatures such as the inside of a freezer, it allows the battery cells to recharge a little, enough to hold sufficient charge to be connected to a phone charger. 4. Remove the battery from the freezer. Allow it to warm up to room temperature. Do NOT use the battery while it’s still cold. 5. Wipe any moisture off of the battery. ...
发表评论
阅读全文
Common Problems About Power Banks Like Us on Facebook 1. Powerbank unable to charge my tablet? a) Powerbank with 2A output to charge tablets. While some tablets can accept lower input (1A or 1.5A), the charging is slower and sometimes can only be charged when the tablet is in sleep mode. b) Some tablet is cables might not be compatible with power bank due to different cable chipset design. For Samsung Galaxy Tab in particular, we recommend using the cable and connector meant for power bank (comes with some power banks. Heloideo White USA AC plug power bank with charging cable  2. Powerbank battery drained off very fast? a) Generally, a well maintained powerbank can retain up to 80-90% of its original capacity. Please check your device (phone/ tablet) original battery capacity and the powerbank capacity. Please also see answer 1.a. above. b) The number of times a powerbank can charge your device very much depends on the capacity of both the powerba...
发表评论
阅读全文