Stanford's Nanowire Battery
Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to produce 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery power for two hours could operate for 20 hours.
Daily Kos diarist jimbo92107 writes: "Even the relatively efficient Li-Ion batteries in the Tesla Roadster weigh almost a third of the car's 2400 pound total weight, and the time for a full recharge is three and a half hours. But just imagine what a full extra magnitude of battery capacity does to that equation. Suddenly, from a battery pack that would weigh around 150 pounds (same as a gas tank!) you could get 500-mile range or better."
Lead researcher Yi Cui, Stanford assistant professor of materials science and engineering, says that the nanowire batteries would require "one or two different steps, but the process can certainly be scaled up. It's a well understood process."
Daily Kos diarist jimbo92107 writes: "Even the relatively efficient Li-Ion batteries in the Tesla Roadster weigh almost a third of the car's 2400 pound total weight, and the time for a full recharge is three and a half hours. But just imagine what a full extra magnitude of battery capacity does to that equation. Suddenly, from a battery pack that would weigh around 150 pounds (same as a gas tank!) you could get 500-mile range or better."
Lead researcher Yi Cui, Stanford assistant professor of materials science and engineering, says that the nanowire batteries would require "one or two different steps, but the process can certainly be scaled up. It's a well understood process."
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