The scientific accident that could change the world.
Discussion
Scalable fabrication of high-power graphene micro-supercapacitors for flexible and on-chip energy storage.
Is this the holy grail of energy storage?
"Remarkably, miniaturizing the devices to the microscale results in enhanced charge-storage capacity and rate capability. These micro-supercapacitors demonstrate a power density of ~200 W cm−3, which is among the highest values achieved for any supercapacitor."
The video & io9
If this means fast charge, long term easy to make & cheap 'batteries' that aren't polluting to make and polluting to dispose of, then it's big news.
Best bit, they did with a domestic standard dvd drive.
Is this the holy grail of energy storage?
"Remarkably, miniaturizing the devices to the microscale results in enhanced charge-storage capacity and rate capability. These micro-supercapacitors demonstrate a power density of ~200 W cm−3, which is among the highest values achieved for any supercapacitor."
The video & io9
If this means fast charge, long term easy to make & cheap 'batteries' that aren't polluting to make and polluting to dispose of, then it's big news.
Best bit, they did with a domestic standard dvd drive.
Edited by rudecherub on Wednesday 27th February 16:10
Odie said:
This and flexible screen technology in my eyes are massive steps forward, cant wait to see what these developments bring in the future.
Flexible, wearable technology is the future and brings us closer to implants.
Fast charging and cheap - charge an electric car as quickly as Petrol into the tank?Flexible, wearable technology is the future and brings us closer to implants.
This is game changing stuff, based on carbon. It's almost too perfect...
edit. digging deeper.
"Kaner Lab researcher Maher El-Kady found a way to create sheets of graphene a single carbon atom thick by covering a plastic surface with graphite oxide solution and bombarding it with precisely controlled laser light.
English translation: He painted a DVD with a liquid carbon solution and stuck it into a standard-issue DVD burner.
The result: Absurdly cheap graphene sheets one atom thick, which held a surprising amount of charge without further modification."
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/science/more-good-...
The article ends with a cautious note about magic bullets and unforeseen issues - of course, but still. wow.
Edited by rudecherub on Wednesday 27th February 17:24
One step closer to fast recharge electric cars that don't have to lug a tonne of batteries about? If the "battery" is a glorified DVD (or an array thereof), you could even switch out dead ones as easily as switching discs on a multichanger. Pretty mind boggling if that can be scaled up to mass production. Is graphene going to turn out to be our "steam engine" moment I wonder? Seems almost too good to be true in some regards.
Am I missing something about flexible screens? Seems no different to say the difference between crt and led screens to me. Thinner and cooler looking, but not really significant in any other way. Why would I want to wear a screen? (not being a ninja). I'm happy to be enlightened in the manner of "I predict the national demand for telephones will be around 10" (or whatever it was).
rudecherub said:
These micro-supercapacitors demonstrate a power density of ~200 W cm−3, which is among the highest values achieved for any supercapacitor."
Totally useless unit dimension - maybe an journo error in the original article.200watt-hours cm−3 would be enormous. 25x better than anything we have convenient access to. Put another way that's the energy storage of ~24cc of petrol, about the densest form of energy storage for conventional fuels.
But:
200W cm−3, as a peak output from a small capacitor - absolutely nothing to write home about.
NB there's six,seven or more orders of magnitude difference between the two!
Edited by Huff on Wednesday 27th February 21:47
Shaolin said:
Am I missing something about flexible screens? Seems no different to say the difference between crt and led screens to me. Thinner and cooler looking, but not really significant in any other way. Why would I want to wear a screen? (not being a ninja). I'm happy to be enlightened in the manner of "I predict the national demand for telephones will be around 10" (or whatever it was).
Is that deliberate irony Shaolin?Huff said:
rudecherub said:
These micro-supercapacitors demonstrate a power density of ~200 W cm−3, which is among the highest values achieved for any supercapacitor."
Totally useless unit dimension - maybe an journo error in the original article.200watt-hours cm−3 would be enormous. 25x better than anything we have convenient access to. Put another way that's the energy storage of ~24cc of petrol, about the densest form of energy storage for conventional fuels.
But:
200W cm−3, as a peak output from a small capacitor - absolutely nothing to write home about.
NB there's six,seven or more orders of magnitude difference between the two!
Edited by Huff on Wednesday 27th February 21:47
"El-Kady and Kaner found a way to embed small electrodes within each graphene unit, and place the whole thing on a flexible substrate that allows the supercapacitor to be bent. The team is already claiming energy density comparable to existing thin-film lithium ion batteries."
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/science/more-good-...
With regard to flexible screens I await a phone that unfolds to the size of a broad sheet newspaper, but is fully functional in all sizes.
Forget about the fact they used a DVD recorder to do this - it was just a convenient way of exposing the material to energy in a ready-made controllable manner. If a similar method were to be used to manufacture battery substitutes on a large scale, they wouldn't look like a stack of DVDs. The DVD drive they used is not a normal one, but one of the LightScribe ones which is able to burn visual patterns on to the surface of the disc.
The press like to speculate wildly when reports like this come out, so I am a little sceptical of it being world changing just yet. I'll reserve judgement until I have read the full report, but I suspect there will significant technical hurdles to overcome before you start seeing large scale batteries using this. It's going to be much easier to do it on small scale, as mentioned for powering micro-devices or integrated circuits. It's still an interesting development, but I think it more likely to be another step in technological progress rather than a huge jump forwards.
The press like to speculate wildly when reports like this come out, so I am a little sceptical of it being world changing just yet. I'll reserve judgement until I have read the full report, but I suspect there will significant technical hurdles to overcome before you start seeing large scale batteries using this. It's going to be much easier to do it on small scale, as mentioned for powering micro-devices or integrated circuits. It's still an interesting development, but I think it more likely to be another step in technological progress rather than a huge jump forwards.
Shaolin said:
Am I missing something about flexible screens? Seems no different to say the difference between crt and led screens to me. Thinner and cooler looking, but not really significant in any other way. Why would I want to wear a screen? (not being a ninja). I'm happy to be enlightened in the manner of "I predict the national demand for telephones will be around 10" (or whatever it was).
At present displays are rigid, so their size dictates the size of the device they are being used with. A flexible display removes or at least reduces that limitation. For example, a screen the size of an ipad that can fold up into a device the size of a normal phone. If the battery can fold up with it then that is even better. Or how about a 60" TV screen that can roll up into a tube when it's not being used. It is often the case with new technology, that some of the benefits won't be obvious straight away as we are used to what is possible at the moment. When technology starts to mature, other innovative uses start to become apparent.
If you haven't seen them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3E7fUynrZU&fe...
Unfortunately, it will probably mean advertising screens everywhere !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3E7fUynrZU&fe...
Unfortunately, it will probably mean advertising screens everywhere !
Shaolin said:
Am I missing something about flexible screens? Seems no different to say the difference between crt and led screens to me. Thinner and cooler looking, but not really significant in any other way. Why would I want to wear a screen? (not being a ninja). I'm happy to be enlightened in the manner of "I predict the national demand for telephones will be around 10" (or whatever it was).
Imagine for example carrying a pen size device in your pocket that unrolls into 7" tablet. Having a coat with a screen built in at your wrist that can bluetooth to your phone to read texts, see whos calling etc.The main advantage of flexible technology though is that with it being flexible it more resislient to knocks and drops.
Ok, I'm seeing the advantages of flexible pocket screens. The wallet phone in the Samsung video link above for instance. I have no interest in buying a smart phone as I don't want a rigid heavy object to carry around. If it was lighter and flexible like a wallet then I would probably get one. Still just a more convenient version of what we have though than a fundamental game changer? Like much new technology I suppose the real break through use may be something we haven't thought about yet.
AnonSpoilsport said:
Shaolin said:
Am I missing something about flexible screens? Seems no different to say the difference between crt and led screens to me. Thinner and cooler looking, but not really significant in any other way. Why would I want to wear a screen? (not being a ninja). I'm happy to be enlightened in the manner of "I predict the national demand for telephones will be around 10" (or whatever it was).
Is that deliberate irony Shaolin?"The name's Bond, James Bond. I'm not a spy, honest."
crofty1984 said:
AnonSpoilsport said:
Shaolin said:
Am I missing something about flexible screens? Seems no different to say the difference between crt and led screens to me. Thinner and cooler looking, but not really significant in any other way. Why would I want to wear a screen? (not being a ninja). I'm happy to be enlightened in the manner of "I predict the national demand for telephones will be around 10" (or whatever it was).
Is that deliberate irony Shaolin?"The name's Bond, James Bond. I'm not a spy, honest."
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