Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Battery, Oxygen, Researchers | Themes: Audio/Video Players
According to researchers at the University of St. Andrews, the St. Andrews Air battery (STAIR) may be the ticket to a new era of laptops, mobile devices, and electric cars, discarding traditional chemicals and using air as a source of power.
While the overall design has not been finalized, the researchers behind the project say that the air-fueled battery could present ten times the energy capacity of rechargeable lithium batteries currently available on the market.
“Our target is to get a five to ten fold increase in storage capacity, which is beyond the horizon of current lithium batteries. Our results so far are very encouraging and have far exceeded our expectations,” said Professor Peter Bruce of the Chemistry Department at the University of St Andrews.
Rather than using the traditional chemical constituent, lithium cobalt oxide, the STAIR battery utilizes porous carbon. Oxygen is freely drawn in from the air and reacts within the pores of the carbon component, creating a constant "flow" of energy, or as Bruce states, a reagent, continuously recharging the battery as it discharges. Because the battery doesn't require chemicals, it offers more energy for the same size battery currently available on the market, and is relatively cheaper than its chemical-based comrades.
Currently the research project reaches its halfway mark in July. Entitled "An O2 Electrode for a Rechargeable Lithium Battery," the research began on July 1, 2007, and is expected to end on June 30, 2011. The primary focus of the project is to understand how the chemical reaction of the battery works, and how to improve it. The team plans to create a STAIR cell prototype that can work in a cell phone or MP3 player, however the battery will more than likely not see a commercial release for at least another five years.
While the project is being led by Bruce and the research group over at the University of St Andrews, Strathclyde and Newcastle are also pitching in to provide additional help. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is providing the funding for the project, with £1,579,137--almost 2.2 million USD--donated thus far.
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Sweet
Stop breathing my air, you're sucking my battery!
can you recharge it? and would it release oxygen when you do. or dose it just get clogged with oxygen and become useless?
seem like a good idea except of NASA
Sounds like a perpetual motion machine trying to shatter the 2nd law of thermodynamics...
Where is the energy coming from?
How would it work in a sealed phone like the iphone?
Won't the battery need more or less constant contact with the air? I don't want a battery sticking out the back of my phone...
seem like a good idea except of NASA
That's funny!
Sounds like a perpetual motion machine trying to shatter the 2nd law of thermodynamics...Where is the energy coming from?
I didn't also understand how it really works I guess it is like "2*H2+02->2H20(ash)+thermal energy" then you apply electrical current and it becomes "electrical energy + 2H20 -> 2*H2(fuel) + 02". I guess they found a way to do "carbon fuel + 02 -> carbon ash + electrical energy" when you plug it in again "carbon ash + electrical energy -> carbon fuel + 02"
and would it release oxygen when you do.
I guess if my guess is correct it should.
It is a genius idea if this is how it works. And from its ashes fuel would be reborn. Of course, i speculate it will have thermal losses and of course some tearing of the material
They are calling this a battery not an energy source so I don't think perpetual motion is what they have in mind. It seems like to me that something in this battery reacts with the air to produces electricity, probably reaching a cap or saturation point. Then you'd have to go home and plug you battery into something to "drain" your battery of the oxygen. All standard loses to heat would apply just that the actuall storage of energy would be higher than lithium.
An intriguing idea.
Someone give these guys more funding to see what they can do.
Also, though it stores more energy, how efficient would it be?
How much does the charge dwindle over time? Simply cut the airflow to preserve battery life?
How many times could it be recharged?
In theory, this would be an excellent step for electric cars, because chemical battery storage is expensive, consumes a lot of volume, and inefficient, and recycling is needed.
Instead if getting 100 miles on a charge, getting 1000 miles or more would be awesome. Being cheaper in the first place you could use more batteries.
It'll be wonderful to see were this goes for now, and I do hope it lives up to its potential. I can wait 5 years.
I dunno... something seems fishy here.
This is almost perpetual motion, except the carbon component would have to be changed im sure.
"" Oxygen is freely drawn in from the air and reacts within the pores of the carbon component, creating a constant "flow" of energy, or as Bruce states, a reagent, continuously recharging the battery as it discharges.""
SOOO if it is constantly recharging it would not have to be very large?
This battery will take over the earth's power needs... Just get a battery large enough to power a factory or your home/car/everything.
I wonder if these guys have a team that tracks bigfoot as well.
its not perpetual motion because perpetual motion implies its a closed system, Its not , it draws oxygen. It just so happens that the oxygen is so much more abundant then the carbon that the carbon would run out first.
Does it create global warming
Well i doubt perpetual motion despite the description border lines upon it. More bang than lithium would be great, at least we won't have to dwell into ultracapitors. Right now batteries are heavy and when out of energy they are dead weight. We need something with either lots of efficiency or can transfer from a liquid to a gas state when the electrons are used, much like we have now with liquid fuels
hey i can use that battery to vacuum seal my zip lock bags for my freezer.
So if we're using our laptop while on the toilet, it's going to get clogged with tiny airborne particles of poo?
This sounds like it produces Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen reacting with Carbon. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of electric cars?
So if we're using our laptop while on the toilet, it's going to get clogged with tiny airborne particles of poo?
News flash! That already happens.
Har har... another greenie product to rouse ooh's and ahh's. In the last 4-5 years with green being in and hip, I've seen hundreds of new battery and enviro tech pipe dreams. Lots of physics and chemistry snake oil in my book.
To all the people doubting it because you think you're smarter then all these scientist. It'd do you good to remember people used to think the world flat. Just because we have theorys on things, don't make them right. We could be wrong in so many ways and not even know it. A theory is still just a theory.
They mangled the story. The battery just absorbs oxygen during the discharge process and releases when its being charged.
Its just a regular battery .. you charge it with electricity then get a faction of that energy back. It just requires air to work and can store a bit more energy.
Its not air fueled.
I think they REALLY mangled this up... the issue is CAN you recharge it? in one discharge it can have more the 5 - 10 times the energy... however it doesn't seem to say anything about Recharging...
Sounds like a perpetual motion machine trying to shatter the 2nd law of thermodynamics...Where is the energy coming from?
It's not a closed system, dude! Perpetual motion machine would be a closed system. I guess the energy comes from the Sun, the source of all energy on Earth.
I think they REALLY mangled this up... the issue is CAN you recharge it? in one discharge it can have more the 5 - 10 times the energy... however it doesn't seem to say anything about Recharging...
It's not clear at all what they mean. If they compare it with rechargeable lithium batteries then it must be rechargeable. Also they say that it recharges itself while discharging.
Will see! There are lots of great announcements all the time but as you see we are not driving flying saucers yet.
Does it create global warming
Ask Al Gore and the answer will be yes.
*STAAB
WOW! I have a big green b0ner!
I think I am just having a hard time with how the article was written. If all the article is saying is that they are replacing lithium with carbon, fine. Wohoo! But if they are claiming that the air itself is charging the battery, I have a hard time believing that.
The article was published over 3 years ago...why the lag time? If I read the abstract correctly O2 is produced during charging. Wonder how ozone would react? Solution to pollution in LA basin?
Original Article Abstract
dude, all the above posts are hidden (I have to press 'show' to see them). WTF is wrong with this site?
About the battery, indeed, there's no way you can gain energy without first putting energy into it.
Carbon itself is not poison. It is what we breathe out. CO2. Carbon dioxide. So it's only part of what we're breathing.
Carbon my itself (in solid form) isn't poison neither, just like coal it is black. Used in a lot of things, like to strengthen steel, used in cars and motorcycle exhausts, even in musical instruments. That's where we get carbon fiber from.
It's only carbon as a fine powder or dust or gas that is dangerous to humans when inhaling it.
Interesting concept.. want to hear more about it.
Another brilliant technology that we will never see thanks to greedy corporations that lobby in washington and knock off anyone who threatens the status quo. Just the like prototype cars that were built in the 80's that would run off water; where are those today?