sooo not climbing related

[Stemalot]

but it's a cool read on where battery technology is!

 

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm

 

TOKYO -- Toshiba Corporation today announced a breakthrough in lithium-ion batteries that makes long recharge times a thing of the past. The company's new battery can recharge 80% of a battery's energy capacity in only one minute, approximately 60 times faster than the typical lithium-ion batteries in wide use today, and combines this fast recharge time with performance-boosting improvements in energy density.

 

The new battery fuses Toshiba's latest advances in nano-material technology for the electric devices sector with cumulative know-how in manufacturing lithium-ion battery cells. A breakthrough technology applied to the negative electrode uses new nano-particles to prevent organic liquid electrolytes from reducing during battery recharging. The nano-particles quickly absorb and store vast amount of lithium ions, without causing any deterioration in the electrode.

 

The excellent recharging characteristics of new battery are not its only performance advantages. The battery has a long life cycle, losing only 1% of capacity after 1,000 cycles of discharging and recharging, and can operate at very low temperatures. At minus 40 degrees centigrade, the battery can discharge 80% of its capacity, against 100% in an ambient temperature of 25 degree centigrade).

 

Toshiba will bring the new rechargeable battery to commercial products in 2006. Initial applications will be in the automotive and industrial sectors, where the slim, small-sized battery will deliver large amounts of energy while requiring only a minute to recharge. For example, the battery's advantages in size, weight and safety highly suit it for a role as an alternative power source for hybrid electric vehicles.

 

Toshiba expects that the high energy density and excellent recharge performance of the new battery will assure its successful application as a new energy solution in many areas of society.

 

Major Specifications of New Battery

1) Excellent Recharge Performance

The thin battery recharges to 80% of full capacity in only a minute. Total recharge takes only a few more minutes.

2) High Energy Density

Small and light, the new battery offers a high level of storage efficiency. The prototype battery is only 3.8mm thick, 62mm high and 35mm deep and has a capacity of 600mAh.

3) Long Life Cycle

A prototype of new battery (a laminated lithium ion battery with 600mAh capacity) was discharged and fully recharged 1,000 times at a temperature of 25 degrees centigrade and lost only 1% of capacity during the test.

4) Temperature

The new battery operates well in extremes of temperature. It discharges 80% of its capacity at minus 40 degrees centigrade, against 100% at an ambient temperature of 25 degrees centigrade, and loses only 5% of capacity at temperatures as high as 45 degrees centigrade after 1,000 cycles. These characteristics assure the wide applicability of the battery as a power source for products as diverse as hybrid vehicles and mobile phones.

5) Eco-friendly Battery

The new battery can quickly store energy produced by locomotives and automobiles. This speedy and highly effective recharge characteristic of the battery will support CO2 reduction, as the battery can save and re-use energy that was simply wasted before.

[Bogen]

That is pretty cool.

 

I understand that panasonic is releasing a methanol fuel cell for laptops next year that should effectively quadruple operating time. Smaller fuel cells for handheld phones are still a few years away.

[iain]

what happens to used lithium batteries? Are they just incinerated after you take them to the recyclers?

[willstrickland]

You eat them, Mr. BiPolar.

[iain]

oh yeah good call. that way you will feel relaxed and stable when your bathroom turns into a superfund site as you pass a powerbook battery

[whistlepunk]

I generally dump used batteries overboard when I'm fishing in the bay. Outta sight, outta mind.

 

Here's another good tip - When you dump your used anti-freeze in the ditch, make sure no dogs see you do it. They like the taste and I heard it isn't too good for them.

[iain]

I bet it is "better" to drop your lithium battery over the side in the open ocean if you are over a trench or something. Pollution Dilution Solution.

[whistlepunk]

You're right Iain. When I dump them in a shallow lake, on a clear day they glisten from the bottom like silver pasties. Some folks find this distasteful, although I've never understood why.

[iain]

Those would be some relaxed fish, though they might get the shakes occasionally. Welcome back to cc.com btw.

[whistlepunk]

Ya know, there's lots of cool stuff to do in the outdoors. Occasionally I like to enhance my fire building experience by dumping about a gallon of gasoline on the pile of material to be burnt. Then I like to step back and drink a beer. When finished, I move in close and drop a match. It's usually pretty exciting.

 

my hair grows fast