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Post by peterboat on Dec 14, 2016 10:12:01 GMT
Wait till these bad boys come on the market IC engines will be a thing of the past
Biological batteries
This story is half biotech, and half engineering. As you’ll be aware, we’ve got a bit of a thing about batteries in Exponential Investor. They’re a ubiquitous technology in consumer electronics, and anyone who can get a fundamental increase in life gets the investment holy grail. Furthermore, if batteries can be made substantially cheaper, they’ll become a major part of our electricity system – and that’s a trillion-dollar opportunity. So I’m fascinated by the story that engineers have developed batteries based on the structure of the gut. Your innards have little finger-like structures growing on them, to help you absorb your dinner. If you’re fond of tripe, you can see these “villi” with the naked eye. The word comes from the Latin for “fleece”, giving you an idea of the hairy appearance. By emulating this structure in batteries, surface area is much increased. This means the power density is improved – that’s the ability to quickly dump the energy from the battery. (It’s akin to the way a bathmat often dries quicker than a wet bathroom floor.) This power boost is in addition to the already-high energy density of the lithium-sulfur (Li-S) chemistry, which is currently around three times better than lithium-ion. The one problem remaining is lifespan – but if this gets sorted, we could soon be close to a Li-S revolution. (The Engineer/Advanced Functional Materials)
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Post by geo on Dec 14, 2016 10:29:03 GMT
Peter if they could it would be a good thing at the right price.
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Post by smileypete on Dec 15, 2016 22:58:23 GMT
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Post by peterboat on Dec 16, 2016 0:20:50 GMT
These beasties are lithium sulpher all very clever stuff
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2016 8:26:17 GMT
We can but hope, I've lost count of the number of "Battery Breakthroughs " I've seen that never amount to to anything. But you are right there is an immense market for a better cheaper battery.
Top Cat
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Post by naughtyfox on Dec 16, 2016 8:37:10 GMT
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Post by JohnV on Dec 16, 2016 8:51:15 GMT
If the world becomes dependant on Lithium as a "strategic mineral" instead of oil, at least lithium is fairly evenly distributed around the world, although the easy to extract sources are fairly restricted. I am quite sure the other sources will be mined as it becomes more sought after(some estimates put the quantity of lithium in the crust as about half as much again as lead although some of it is widely dispersed and possibly difficult to extract)
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Post by cuthound on Dec 16, 2016 11:54:06 GMT
The future of battery power in my opinion is the aluminium air battery. Eight times the energy density of lithium ion, recyclable and potentially cheap as aluminium and air are are available in huge quantities. It is the only battery technology capable of giving road vehicles a range similar to petrol engines. I saw a prototype battery working in the early 1990's, using caustic soda solution as an electrolyte, but the concept has been around a lot longer. It was intended to replace diesel engined standby generators to provide standby power. It is a primary cell, so a "one shot" device. However if cars were made to accept standard aluminium air batteries (more for larger vehicles), and petrol stations were replaced by "battery swap centres" it could happen. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium–air_batteryThe problem seems to be the time it is taking to become commercially viable, just like the fuel cell. |
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Sheep AND a chicken, let's keep the chicken 'thread' (geddit??!!) going 
