Flexible- Paper Batteries

The quest of compact and efficient systems made it possible to achieve such advancements in the field of technology. Electricity play a vital role in such success. Batteries and capacitors are devices to store electric energy. The required size of storage devices increases with the requirement of electric energy to store.  There is a hot research area in every field of engineering and science to reduce the size of systems and to increase efficiency. 

In such effort, scientist from Stanford University came up with a solution that will not only reduce the size of electric storage devices but also made

it more easy to use as well as more efficient. Nano technology is employed in the development of such efficient systems in which an ordinary paper is covered with a past of highly efficient Nano-particles and then baked. This make the flexible paper a flexible electric energy storage device. Nano-particles which are used look just like an ink having carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. Silver nanowires are highly conductive in nature. On baking the circuit completes and ready for storing electric energy.

‘Cui (presenter of this idea) says about the nanomaterials, “These nanomaterials are special. They’re a one-dimensional structure with very small diameters.” The small diameter is quite crucial because it helps the nanomaterial ink to stick strongly to the fibrous paper. This makes the battery and supercapacitor very durable. The paper supercapacitor can bear the 40,000 charge-discharge cycles. It’s better than lithium batteries as far as an order of magnitude is concerned. Cui explains that the nanomaterials also make ideal conductors because they move electricity along much more efficiently than ordinary conductors.’

There are many advantages of the use of these devices as compared with others. Some of them are listed below:

• This technology will be useful for the hybrid cars and such technology.
• Cheap and easy to manufacture
• Use for the storage of electricity generated in night (small load time)
• Use to store solar and wind energy generated in peak times

 This technology is considered of most importance because of associated advantages. With this technology we may get rid of large sized heavy batteries in future and may have small sized, more efficient, durable and easy to use batteries as an alternative.