Researchers at the National University of Singapore have today announced they’ve totally pwned current battery technology. How? With a membrane.
It works like this: a polymer is sandwiched between two metal plates. As you charge the plates, it absorbs the juice; .2 farads per square centimeter. This is a pretty big improvement over your standard capacitor, which you generally measure in microfarads when it comes to storage. It also doesn’t involve any acid, and costs a tenth of what it takes to charge any of the current batteries. Oh, and it’s also snuggly soft and can be folded.
Sound too good to be true? It probably is: the team hasn’t released any information on how long it takes to fully charge this super-powerful toilet paper, or how long it lasts, but we’re guessing that’s the particular hitch. Still, if it brings us that much closer to squishy cell phones, we’re all for it.
[ via the snuggly soft membranes at Gizmag ]