02-27-2015
It looks as if prolonged charging time will, eventually, be consigned to the history books. Research into this area is well documented and we’re beginning to see occasional breakthroughs. Take Israeli startup StoreDot for example. You probably haven’t heard of the company, but it’s likely that you’ve seen its infamous video of a Samsung Galaxy S4 charging in a matter of seconds.
The technology behind that super-fast charge will soon become reality. The company has developed a working battery that can be charged in 60 seconds and it’s currently looking to partner with a manufacturer. The discovery of the technology itself was thanks to ongoing research into Alzheimer’s disease by the nanotechnology department of Tel Aviv University. The Guardian’s Shane Hickey explains:
“Researchers found interesting properties in a certain peptide molecule – a chain of amino acids – that affects neurons in the brain and causes Alzheimer’s. It turned out that these molecules had high capacitance, the ability to hold an electrical charge.
When two of these molecules are combined, they make a crystal which is two nanometers in size – two billionths of a metre. These “nanodots” form the basis of the StoreDot technology. Because of their increased capacitance, they can make batteries which rapidly absorb and hold a charge.”
As with Qualcomm’s technology, StoreDot’s battery requires a special charger which pumps up to 80 amps of current into a battery. The downside to this is that the storage capacity of battery is smaller than the current crop of lithium-ion batteries used in today’s smartphones. Any device that adopts StoreDot’s power-pack will need to be charged everyday, opposed to once every two days that most 2015 smartphones offer. It will also add an extra £30 to the price of the handset.
StoreDot says that its pocket-sized portable charger negates the smaller battery issue and consumers will happily pay the extra for a significantly shorter charging time. Both of which make sense given how dramatically different the new technology is. The startup counts Samsung has one of its investors, and it told the Guardian that it’s speaking with a number of manufacturers with the hope of a StoreDot battery being included in a smartphone by Christmas 2016.
Forbes 02-27-2015
AAAAaannddd all of these just for your kids to chat on Facebook and say how cute they are! :)
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