Battery technologies
Batteries are a nuisance in most of the gadgets we use – like PDA, Mobiles, Laptops, etc. Connect wires between oppositely charged terminals. This initiates an electrochemical reaction and electrons will be moving from negative to positive. If there is a device in between, it will be powered. This is the working principle of the battery since Alessandro Volta showed it to the world sometime during 1800s. Most of the alkaline batteries are of no use to these gadgets since the power generated from them is too low. So the Li-ion rechargeable batteries with a superior energy density are being used. Even this is not enough. One alternative is to find a method to ‘quick’ recharge the batteries. There are a number of other strategies that researchers are focusing on – like decreasing the battery size and increasing the number of batteries for efficient supply of energy only when needed and also tweaking with component materials that could provide a better energy density.
Apart from the research community the industry is not doing much to address this issue. If all the batteries that come in most of the gadgets are Li-ion, why do they have different standards, sizes, shapes? Duracell tried to standardize the laptop battery market. But the manufacturers found that it is easier to make more money with different battery types.
So what is the alternative? It would take atleast five years to bring out new batteries out in the market. Some people suggest fuel cells. Portable fuel cells. The problem is they are costly since they use costlier metals like platinum. So till they come up with these, pack up your backup batteries.
Labels: Tech
posted by Hari @ 12/30/2004 03:44:00 AM
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