Future of batteries: Foam, Printable/Flexible, Biodegradable

[Racehorse]

This is pretty interesting. Consumer electronic batts will someday be quite different -- can't wait!

Printable batteries:
"Imprint Energy, has assembled ...... — a rechargeable, flexible, customizable, and printable battery that is cheaper, safer and more powerful....<snip>......The implication of this for product designers is that instead of building the device around the power source, not only can the power source be built around the device, it can be the device."
Printable, flexible, rechargeable, non-toxic zinc batteries could challenge lithium | ExtremeTech
Also:
http://phys.org/news/2015-08-heart-shaped-li-ion-battery-cup-batteries.html

Foam Batteries: lightweight, porous, and will be about half that of conventional lithium ion batteries made in China. (I'm sure these will eventually get smaller)
http://phys.org/news/2013-10-futuristic-copper-foam-batteries-buck.html
Prieto Battery.....
Foam - Prieto Battery
Copper Foam Batteries — Increased Energy Storage, Faster Charge Times, & Decreased Production Costs

Biodegradeable/dissolvable:
Non-toxic biodegradable battery dissolves in water in 3 weeks, could be used inside your body

 

[Mooch]

Thanks for posting that!

 

[Racehorse]

you are welcome. I am optimistic about the future of vaping. I imagine that there willl be challenges and obstacles, then court cases and one day, it will be considered a normal part of the landscape in the FUTURE.

So many have said that the technology of PVs has far out paced the technology of batteries we have at the moment.

But I see that changing. I forsee a time when batteries will be as light as feathers, which will make PVs pretty wonderful to have.

It really is fascinating stuff. I'm sure there is other "battery technology" in the works that I didn't touch on, the above links were just the ones I happened to be reading about when I posted.

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

We've basically have been stuck for the last few years when it comes to battery tech, a lot of the battery R&D is going into super capacitors instead of improving on what we have which is a good thing and a bad thing I guess.

A super capacitor is basically a battery you can charge at high amperage pretty much eliminating charge time... Imagine charging a 2500mah battery at 100amps it'd be charged up in a few seconds.

it's been a while since I looked into it but last I checked they were working with graphene and were having some luck....

They can make batteries all shapes and sizes but until we can charge them at a decent pace there really won't be any real developments.

 

[retired1]

I don't see any huge leaps in battery technology for at least 5-10 more years (and that's if we're lucky). Yes, we're seeing all these wonderful reports about "new" battery technology, but there's nothing on the horizon that will be mass produced anytime soon.

 

[bluecat]

It out there. Testing is slow and then when a breakthrough is had the electronics demand changes. It seems the company that hits the breakthrough would be really wealthy. I guess it is more profitable to use old battery tech than to develop new.

Future batteries, coming soon: charge in seconds, last months and power over the air - Pocket-lint

 

[WattWick]

Problem with the Perfect Battery of the Future is that they've all been roughly 18 months away since the 1950s

The tiny little optimist part of me sees a bright future, tho. Batteries have finally become good enough to take a big part in everyday life. Everything from our pocketable gadgets and workstations, via vehicles - to banking vast amounts of power off of solar arrays/buffers for the main power grid, etc, etc. We're finally at a point where the battery tech snowball has picked up some proper size and momentum. Same with solar power, really. Once we reached grid parity, the market boomed. It's currently a better gamble than ever to invest money in both solar and battery research.

 

[sofarsogood]

One way to follow battery hype is read the catagory on Science Daily. Every couple of weeks there is a huge breakthrough that you never hear about again. There are some inconvenient laws of physics that are spoiling our nanotech super battery fantasies. An affordable practical battery that could rival the energy density of liquid fuel would be the greatest advance in mechanical engineering since steam power. Don't hold your breath.

 

[Drummel]

Excellent thread! I happened to come across Prieto battery information on Youtube and then find the Prieto family website. And then I came back here to seek out threads! It is definitely interesting stuff! I agree the future may bring some great things with batteries, but cost and research will be awhile off yet. *crosses fingers* Here's to hoping!

 

[Racehorse]

Well I remember before there were PCs, and Gates said there would be one in every household, and they nay-sayed him. And it happened pretty lickety-split once it got going.

To be honest, after watching the Jetsons as a young girl, even seeing SKYPE pretty much freaked me out, since I never thought I would see the stuff I'd seen on the Jetson's cartoon ever come to pass in my lifetime.

 

[MorpheusPA]

Hey, even normal battery technology is pretty amazing. A number of years ago, 2,000 mAh were all the rage among the cool kids. Nowadays even I won't get out of bed for less than 3,000 mAh--and the amp draw is better. Plus they're cheaper.

That's not too bad for incremental gains, and I expect that we'll be at 4,000 mAh in a year or three.