As we continue to load our pockets and bags with mobile devices that help us stay connected to our digital lives, the need to power them has to come from somewhere. Because of this, more research than ever has been focusing on optimizing batteries to make them, smaller, lighter, more energy-efficient and ultimately, more powerful than ever before.
Among others who have been developing longer-lasting batteries for tomorrow’s smartphones and other devices include Professor Craig Banks, the Associate Dean for Research and Professor in Electrochemical and Nanotechnology at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK.
Recent developments for a three and a half-year project being led by Banks have been focused on building a desktop printer that is capable of creating batteries, supercapacitors and energy storage devices for phones or tablets, and solar, wind and wave power storage using conductive graphene ink. Graphene was discovered at the University of Manchester in 2004 and it is 200 times stronger than steel and is a highly efficient conductor of heat and energy.
By utilizing the conductive properties of graphene ink as a form of filament, Banks and his team are able to create optimized 3D structures that are designed to increase the amount of power storage that a battery is capable of.
“Energy storage systems (ESS) are critical to address climate change and, as clean energy is generated through a variety of ways, an efficient way to store this energy is required,” explains Banks.
“Lithium and sodium ion batteries and super/ultracapacitors are promising approaches to achieve this. This project will be utilising the reported benefits of graphene – it is more conductive than metal – and applying these into ESS.”
