| Posted: March 19, 2009 |
The power of nanotechnology super batteries |
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(Nanowerk News) Imagine that, in the not-so-far distant future,
Maryland rights its economy to become a
teeming manufacturing center of
next-generation “super batteries,”
with state officials having the
enviable task of deciding how
many factories they want
built to churn out these
21st-century power supplies
for vehicles.
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It’s not a far-fetched
vision, says Gary Rubloff,
the Minta Martin Professor of
Engineering and director of the Maryland NanoCenter.
Next-generation batteries based on novel nanotechnology
devices developed at the University of Maryland
could take as little as 10 years to appear in cars, Rubloff
says. These modern batteries will be capable of storing
enough electricity to eliminate the need for hybrid cars,
which rely on gasoline as a backup.
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The need to end America’s dependency on oil
has become a national security issue as well as an
economic and environmental imperative that President
Barack Obama has vowed to address. Rubloff believes
a multidisciplinary team of university
researchers is poised to put Maryland
at the forefront of finding a solution to
this problem because they are focusing
on electrical energy storage, an area
often overlooked in the rush for renewable
energy sources.
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Renewable energy sources “are not
very useful if you can’t store the electricity
between the time it is captured
and the time it is needed,” Rubloff says.
Batteries on the market now can
store energy from auxiliary solar panels
to help light and heat a home. A much more powerful
battery, however, is needed for more ambitious use
of new energy sources linked to a regional power grid,
says Sang Bok Lee, associate professor of chemistry
and biochemistry.
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Rubloff and Lee are experimenting with nanowire
structures—so small that 10 billion could fill 1 square
centimeter. They have found several ways to exploit
the honeycomb patterns of nanoscale pores in aluminum
oxide in order to build new types of battery and
capacitor devices. They can store a lot more energy,
deliver more power and recharge faster than existing
devices can.
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The researchers said they foresee arrays
of billions of their nanowires in super batteries
that could power vehicles for long
distances. Hybrid cars typically can travel
100 miles before dipping into gas reserves
or needing to recharge for several hours.
Lee says they hope to have a super battery
that can power a car for 300 miles and take
as little as five minutes to recharge at an
electric station along the highway.
With $4-per-gallon gasoline prices still
fresh on consumers’ minds, auto makers
are racing to deliver the most fuel-efficient,
electric cars—a mission that could lead to a very green
future for Maryland.
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