“Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd has developed a porous aluminum called ‘Aluminum-Celmet,'” Atsushi Takano and Nikkei Monozukuri report for Tech-On.
“Currently, the positive electrode and negative electrode current collectors of Li-ion rechargeable batteries are often made from aluminum (Al) foil and copper (Cu) foil, respectively,” Takano and Monozukuri report. “By replacing the Al foil with the Aluminum-Celmet, it is possible to increase the amount of positive active material per unit area, enhancing battery capacity by 1.5 to 3 times (in the case of automotive batteries). And if the battery capacity does not change, the volume of the battery can be reduced to 1/3 to 2/3.”
Takano and Monozukuri report, “Because the Aluminum-Celmet has a high corrosion resistance, it can be applied to Li-ion rechargeable batteries and capacitors, which have higher charge/discharge voltages than NiMH rechargeable batteries.”
Read more in the full article here.
Wonderful! An iPad with a 30 hour runtime and 3 month standby. Now we are getting somewhere with those pesky chargers.
This will be another broken promise if it’s anything like the untold number of announcements of some new battery technology that we’ve read about over the years. For some reason, batteries seem to draw a large number of enhancements — or at least announcements of new enhancements. But they never bear fruit. I’ll believe this one when I see a 3 Amp-Hr CR3 sized rechargeable lithium. But I sure won’t be holding my breath.
@ Wingsy:
broken promise?!?!? on what planet have you been living???
Battery energy density has been making great strides. Perhaps you are confused because every time battery makers improve the energy density, device manufacturers shrink their package size and/or increase energy usage. Your statements are ridiculous to the extreme. The dramatic improvements in batteries in our lifetimes should be self-evident. If you’re not satisfied, then enter the battery industry and show them how to do it better.
Want graphical proof? Look at the plot halfway down this article:
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2009/07/was_moores_law.php
Porous aluminum? Doesn’t sound like it will hold whales to me.
“There be whales here, Captain!”
“Keyboard? How quaint.”
Yes, but is the relative weight?
Things have moved on since the 20 minutes or so of my Powerbook 145b (still going strong btw) but battery tech is improving at a brain-achingly slow pace.
Still, any improvement is good!
Ready in time for Li-ion? Sorry, I couldn’t resist…
Boo!…. ok… it’s actually a cute joke…..
Computer? Hello, Computer?
I’d take an iPhone that’s a couple millimeters thicker if it will double my battery life.
No kidding! Especially since I’ll have it inside a case regardless.
Forget it. I would rather have technology that will run devices from energy generated by my body. Never run out of juice as long as I’m alive. Now that’s innovation!
You already are running devices from your body energy. Welcome to the Matrix 😉
That’s really great if Apple use this first on iPhone because this is the only lack iPhone has.
Can’t believe they used my idea. I wish
That be ” transparent aluminum” for you ST3 ers out there.
How DO we know he didn’t invent it?
“Gracy is pregnant.”
You’re not exactly catching us at our best.
Of all the technological advancements I have seen in my lifetime, battery science seems to be the trickiest. Breakthroughs that can be readily applied to commercially viable products seem rare and far between. Hope this one pans out.
Next up, the discovery of transparent aluminum.
ONE STEP AWAY FROM TRANSPARENT AL!!!!
“Well, uh, double dumbass on you! ”
“Admiral. We have found the nuclear wessel.”
So once they’ve moved the material to be all pores, then transparency shall have been achieved: it takes genius to know genius, people!
The only real improvement is the one that you can actually use.
All the even (original cast) movies were great.