Stanford University scientists have invented a rechargeable aluminum battery that could someday allow you to fully charge your iPhone in less than a minute!
The new rechargeable battery can go from flat to full in a fraction of the time it currently takes to pull in enough electricity to fully charge a phone, laptop or tablet.
An iPhone 6, which currently, (see what I did there?), takes around two hours to charge from empty to a full, could be recharged in less than one minute if equipped with the still-experimental battery.
The new battery will also last up to seven times longer than today’s lithium-ion power cells, allowing up to 7,500 recharging cycles.
Scientists are still working on increasing the voltage output of their new power cell, as the aluminum battery only produces around half the voltage of a typical smartphone battery. They are confident they can improve the output within the next few years.
“Otherwise, our battery has everything else you’d dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life,” said said Hongjie Dai, Professor of chemistry at Stanford University.
The aluminum battery is also proving safer than lithium-ion batteries, which have been known to unexpectedly overheat and burst into flames.
“Our new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it,” added Prof Dai.
The aluminum power house is also flexible, it can be bent and folded, allowing it to be used in flexible electronic devices.
The research above was published in the journal Nature.
