It seems like everything we have runs on batteries. On Wednesday, Stanford researchers announced they have made a significant breakthrough that could increase the battery life of rechargeable batteries by ten times.
Current lithium batteries are often made with graphite-based anodes, which expand and shrink through use, "wearing" them out by fractures that form. The discovery is to use silicon nanowire anodes which can hold more lithium ions (more power) and do not fracture during the charge/discharge cycle.
People are discussing their favorite use for the new battery, longer battery life for their notebook computer or their music player. But what we are missing is the biggest effect will be on the things that don't currently exist because batteries are too large, heavy or don't last long enough. Think about an extremely small battery powering a remote sensing device used by doctors inside the body. Or a battery that would last ten years in wireless CO detector. It will be interesting to see where this battery technology ends up.
Stanford University researchers' discovery from C-Net news
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