There’s a quiet revolution brewing in the world of batteries. It is not as dramatic as artificial intelligence rippling through the world. A team of scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenberg, Sweden, have developed a stronger lightweight structural battery using recycled materials. And there’s not a drop of lithium in their solution.
A ‘Weightless’ Stronger Structural Battery Makes Waves
The race is on among battery manufacturers to produce a battery that deliverers the most energy, but is as small and light as possible. Such a battery could potentially enable commercial electric flight, and be a long-term answer for bulk energy storage too.
The Chalmers team describe their novel battery as ‘massless’, although logically the material must weigh something. Although, to stretch the paradigm further, those scientists imagine an electric vehicle where the structural components are the battery.
We chatted a while back about concrete batteries, where a house becomes the anode. This is why we say there is a quite revolution brewing in the world of batteries. This is not as dramatic as AI. Although the impact of stronger lightweight structural batteries could also reverberate throughout the world.
How Much Do We Know About This ‘Massless’ Battery?
Euro News reports a few tantalizing details. They confirm the concept of building a battery into the object that it is powering, so it does does not add mass. We imagine smartphones as thin as credit cards, and passenger aircraft unburdened by the weight of fuel.
However, if the battery failed, we would presumably need to replace the device. Nothing is as simple as that in practice in the world of batteries. Although this is not sufficient reason for us to stop trying, in the interests of preventing further global warming.
“We have succeeded in creating a battery made of carbon fibre composite,” a team member proudly explains. “It is as stiff as aluminum, and energy-dense enough to be used commercially. Just like a human skeleton, our battery has several functions at the same time.”
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