Samsung: Graphene Balls Boost Battery Charging Speed by 500 Percent

Graphene Balls to Charge your phone Faster

Have you ever stepped out of your house and then realized that your phone is dead and charging could mean another hour or so when you don’t really have the time? Well, all that is going to change with Samsung’s 12 minute charge time. I don’t mean 12 minutes for just a bit of charge either but a full charge cycle.

In smartphones, a number of hardware has undergone changes to not only make the phone more efficient but also to make it more capable. But one of the things that has taken a backseat or which has not developed at the same rate, is the battery used in these smartphones.
 

How can a phone get a full charge in 12 minutes with Graphene balls?

 
Previously, or even now, smart phones had/have lithium-ion batteries. With today’s smartphones doing more than before, they also take up a lot of juice and this requires a lot of charge as well as the time it takes also increases.

Researchers have been looking for alternatives to these lithium-ion batteries but nothing seems to be promising until now.

A new study by Samsung has found, Graphene balls which is supposed to increase battery capacity by 45% and what is the greatest yet- it can increase charging time by a whopping 500%.
 

Why are Graphene Balls so great?

 
Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology or SAIT for short, has discovered this novel method of charging. But coming to the question of why are Graphene balls so great?

The answer is simple, with Graphene balls, the batteries not only have a higher capacity but also a faster charge time than ever before. Earlier, other solutions could either have a higher capacity or a faster charge time but not both.

Getting the ingredients for these graphene ball batteries is neither expensive nor difficult to find and another major advantage is that Samsung can incorporate Graphene balls into the batteries without majorly altering its manufacturing Equipment which otherwise could have been an expensive venture. So it means that the battery will still be able to give its best and at, hopefully a reasonable price for customers.
 

More about Graphene balls…

 
Graphene is a highly advanced substance which is a hexagonal lattice of carbon. SAIT used this lattice structure to create a Graphene ball with the help of silica. These Graphene balls will be located as a protective layer on the cathode and anode ends of the battery. The location is also deliberate as this point allows for greater charging capacity and faster speeds.

With the Graphene balls high stability, ability to act as a semi- conductor and its good thermal conductivity, it is proving to be a really good substitute for those lithium-ion batteries.

Everyone remembers the note 7 fiasco; this time around Samsung is taking no chances with the graphene balls. The graphene balls will allow the battery to charge without getting too hot.

When I’m talking increased capacity with the graphene balls, I mean a tablet’s worth of charging capacity that is 5000-6000mAh at a charge time of a mere 12 minutes.

Laying the Groundwork for Longer Battery Life

Batteries with Long Life – Interact with Technology

Some of the common complaints regarding cell phone or the laptop are regarding the battery life which tends to turn off when needed the most. We are inclined to rely on technology which is an integral part of our life and find it difficult to do anything without it.

 We would find it extremely difficult to cope up with our life even for a short period of time without our cell phone which tends to connect us with the external world. The faculty from Drexel’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering have discovered this topic in a latest invited article in Nature Energy – `Perspective’. Batteries having long life and tend to charge instantly could change how we interact with our technology.

Anne Steven Assistant Professor Ekaterina Pomerantseva together with Distinguished University and Charles T. as well as Ruth M. Bach Chair Professor Yury Gogotsi suggested that the next generation batteries have been developed by combining different two-dimensional 2D materials in heterostructured electrodes and would immensely enhance battery life and charge storage potentials, thus changing the technology setting. The term `2D’ materials is utilised in describing materials which tend to be developed in single layer, like a sheet of paper which is only one or many atoms thick.

2D Heterostuctured Electrodes

These exceptional materials have started portraying amazing potentials for different properties which could be applied to a wide selection of applications. The most frequently known 2D materials are said to be graphene together with various graphene modification, transition metal dischalcogenides – TMDCs, transition metal oxides –TMOs together with transition metal carbide/nitrides – MXenes.

Individually, these material families tend to display definite benefits for energy storage applications though simultaneously tend to have some shortcomings. Pomerantseva had commented that they suggest that in order to eradicate the shortcomings while maintaining most of the benefits of these opposing 2D materials is in creating what is known as 2D heterostructed electrodes composed of interchanging layers of various 2D materials which tend to portray various functionalities.

The single layer structure of 2D materials is for the most part valuable for the purpose of energy storage properties since these thin materials tend to have a great surface range that enables quick diffusion of ions from an electrolyte, which is a liquid utilised in transporting ions between two electrodes. This quick movement of ions on the surface permits a battery to charge immediately. Besides this the 2D material also makes provision for a denser packing of ions between the layers that leads to the battery stocking the charge for a longer period.

Contrary Chemical Reaction

Though there is an opportunity that the solvent utilised in the electrolyte tends to have the possibility of causing a contrary chemical reaction with the electrode in the battery resulting in reduced battery performance, the ability of 2D materials for enhanced battery performance tends to outweigh the potential challenges.

In order to build these 2D heterostructures a parallel orientation or interface of layers of various 2D materials is essential. Gogotsi has informed that the interface of materials in this way tends to optimize their unique properties. For instance, on combining various layers of TTMO together with graphene, a high capacity of oxide as well as high electronic conductivity of carbon could be attained in the resulting 2D heterostructure which could lead to a battery having high energy together with high power.

There is a possibility of modifying the 2D heterostructures still further by integrating different types of inorganic ions, organic molecules and also polymers, which are known as species between the layers. This integration of these interlayer species could lead to various developments in electrochemical properties. The interlayer species could extend the interlayer spacing enabling additional electrochemically cycling ions in being incorporated between the layers which could lead to a higher capacity which in turn could lead to energy density of the batteries.

Insertion/Extraction

Moreover due to the interactions between the layers as well as the interlayer species, the structural stability of the electrodes through multiple cycles of ions is said to go through insertions and extraction which can be enhanced. Should the interlayer species be charged, their presence between the layers could disturb the diffusion of electrochemically cycled ion inclusive of the acceleration of the diffusion that tends to lead to batteries with better power.

Utilising 2D heterostructured electrodes with suitably selected interlayer species seem to have abundant promise in developing a battery which would not only charge quickly but also hold an individual charge for a longer period and will also tend to last longer over several charge and discharge cycles.

 Pomerantseva had informed that if such a battery is utilised in powering a car, it would be capable of greater driving range before the need of a re-charge, and the re-charge process would take a short duration of time. Moreover the owner of the car would possibly desire to buy a new car well before the light indicating that the battery required to be replaced is illuminated.

Largest Hybrid Flywheel Battery Project to Help Grid Respond to Energy Demand

The Biggest Innovation of Hybrid Flywheels to Satiate the Demand of Energy.

The engineers from the university of Sheffield are up for a biggest venture till date that would compensate the ever-growing demand of energy till date. To meet this venture Europe’s biggest and UK’s the very ancient flywheel system induced by battery will be coming together to the grids of United Kingdom and Irish that will enable to meet the demand of energy with adaptable Balanced Energy and Freqcon.

A project of 4 million euro, with 2.9 million is being developed for this innovative measure of developing hybrid flywheel battery that would provide hybridized storage of energy with aiming at balancing of excessive power in Europe on the prevailing grid infrastructure.

Wheels to fly work by stabilizing a rotor to a maximum speed using electrical energy that effectively stores the energy within the system as a rotational energy; so, that it can be converted back to electricity whenever required. Flywheels don’t degenerate over time in comparison to batteries that degenerate over time. Thus, the combination of two uplifts the system supporting storage to function more marvelously and it also minimizes according to the lifetime of the system. This seems to be the most effective formula that would give a new dimension to the production of batteries.

This latest technology initiated by Schwungrad Energie Limited, includes Adaptive Balancing Power Gmbh who is sure to guarantee dynamic flywheel technology. Freqcon Gmbh has assured that they are sure to build amazing adaptable power converters that can connect the flywheel to grids.

A noted professor called Dr. Dan Gladwin belonging from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering; University of Sheffield has confirmed that the United Kingdom national grid is progressing towards being volatile because of the increasing non-perishable sources of energy. This would have the capability to indulge itself in manipulating differentiations from the minimal 50Hz frequency or as per the demand is.

Technologies related to Battery and flywheel has the potential to provide immediate responses, and can also travel energy induced by this technology to be both adaptive and responsive in times of fluctuating frequency.

The facility of hybrid flywheel battery is reported to be put up in Ireland first, which would be foreseen by Energie of Schwungrad at their very hybrid flywheel battery facility, which has already led to the expansion of high demonstrable projects, in combination to EirGrid. Hybrid flywheel battery has the power to support the power of 500kW and can also store 10kWh energy all throughout.

Further reports are such that shows progress in terms of Hybrid flywheel battery is still going on and it will upgrade to offer 1MW of power and 20KWH storage of energy and can also be used to provide hybridized form of energy storage with the aid of batteries which would locate responsive frequency services.

The way the progress in terms of flywheels is taking place, in no time this would emerge as a valuable innovation which would be capable of satiating the ever increasing demands of energy all throughout the world that too in a much volatile way.

Looking for the Next Boost in Rechargeable Batteries

An Alteration to Lithium-Sulfur Battery

The USC researchers have come up with a solution for rechargeable batteries. In the January issue of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society, which had been published by Sri Narayan and Derek Moy of the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, outlines how they had designed a modification to the lithium-sulfur battery which could be more competitive with the industry standard lithium-ion battery.

The lithium sulphur batter which was presumed to be better in energy storage ability than the well=known lithium-ion counterpart had been vulnerable due to its short life span. The lithium=sulphur battery, presently can be recharged 50 to 100 times, unreasonable as an alternative energy source in comparison to 1,000 times, for several rechargeable batteries in the present day market.

The solution planned by Narayan together with lead author and research assistant Moy is what they call the `Mixed Conduction Membrane’, or MCM. This is a small piece of non-porous invented material inserted between two layers of porous separators, soaked in electrolytes which are placed in the midst of two electrodes.

MCM – Essential Movement of Lithium ions

The membrane acts as a block in decreasing the transporting of dissolved polysulfides among anode and cathode. This is a process which tends to increase the type of cycle strain makes use of lithium-sulfur batteries for the purpose of energy storage an experiment.

The MCM enables the essential movement of lithium ions, imitating the procedure as it takes place in lithium-ion batteries. This innovative membrane solution tends to preserve the high-discharge rate ability together with energy density without losing the capacity over a period of time. The researchers had discovered that the lithium-sulfur batteries which have a tendency to make use of MCM at several rates of discharge, had led to 100% capacity retention and had around four times longer life in comparison to batteries without the membrane.

According to Narayan, senior author and professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science had stated that this progress removes one of the major technical barriers to the commercialization of the lithium-sulfur battery, enabling them to realize improved options for energy efficiency.

Lithium-Sulfur Batteries/Lithium-ion Batteries

It is said that lithium-sulfur batteries tends to have a lot of advantage over lithium-ion batteries and are made with plenty and cheap sulphur. They are two to three times denser making them both smaller and better at storing charge.

According to researchers, lithium-sulfur battery could be appropriate in saving space in mobile phones as well as computers. Moreover, it would also reduce weight in the forthcoming electric vehicles inclusive of cars, together with planes thereby further reduction in reliance on fossil fuels. The real MCM layer developed by Narayan and Moy is said to be a thin film of lithiated cobalt oxide but future alternate materials may produce much improved effects.

Any alternative material utilised as an MCM, according to Narayan and Moy should satisfy some vitalstandards. The material should be non-porous and should have mixed conduction properties and it should be electrochemically inactive.The research had been financed by USC together with the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute.

Kirigami-Based Stretchable Lithium-Ion Batteries

Battery Created on Origami variant Kirigami

Researchers at the Arizona StateUniversity have developed a battery which can stretch up to around 150%, giving rise to a wide range of potential applications in wearable technology. Created on the origami variant kirigami, the team was capable of transforming a larger battery into various smaller one through chains of folds and cuts.

Associate professor Hanqing Jiang in the School of Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one of ASU’s Ira A, Fulton Schools of Engineering, together with the researchers created the battery utilising slurries of graphite and lithium cobalt dioxide, then coating them on sheets of aluminium foil making positive and negative electrodes, from which they added bends and cuts to begin the patterns. The outcome was a battery that could stretch while still maintaining full functionality.

 The team has stated that regardless of using origami as inspiration by the engineers for foldable batteries which can flex in the past, it marks the first time that a lithium-ion battery has been made stretchable. To test the efficiency of the battery, the kirigami-driven prototype battery, was sewn in an elastic wristband that was attached to a Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch. As the strap was stretched in various ways, the battery was capable of providing power to the watch for its functions inclusive of playing video.

Replace Bulky & Rigid Batteries

Jiang had commented that `this type of battery could potentially be used to replace the bulky and rigid batteries that are limiting the development of compact wearable electronic devices and this type of stretchable batteries could be integrated into fabrics, which include those used for clothing’.In the research journal Scientific Reports, a paper was published on June 11, describing how the team had developed kirigami based lithium-ion batteries with the use of a combination of folds and cuts creating patterns which permitted a significant increase in stretch-ability.

Hongyu Yu, an associate professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering and the School of Earth and Space Exploration; Zeming Song, a material science doctoral student and Xu Wang, a mechanical engineering doctoral student, are some of the leading members of his ASU research team. Song and Wang have been praised by Jiang for utilising several kirigami patterns and for conducting experiments as well as characterising the properties of the materials that have been utilised in the development of the technology.

In-Depth View in Progress & Obstacles – Origami-Based Lithium-Ion Batteries

Others who have also made their contributions comprise of ASU engineering graduate students Change LV. Yonghao An, Mengbing Liang, Teng Ma and David He, a Pheonix high school student together with Ying-Jie Zheng and Shi-Qing Huang from the MOE Key Lab of Disaster Forecast and Control in engineering at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

Jiang together with some of his research team members as well as other colleagues, in an earlier paper in the research journal of Nature Communication, had provided an in-depth view in the progress and obstacles in the development of origami-based lithium-ion batteries where the paper clarified technical challenges in flexible battery progress which Jiang states that the teams’ kirigami based devices are helping to solving.

Battery Life Can Be Improved By Using Glass Coated Sulfur Particles

Even though the battery capacity of the Lithium-ion batteries have been holding us back, these batteries have still managed to take us a long ways in tablets, phones as well as cars over the years. The drawbacks of these batteries have prompted the scientists to look out for alternate methods but nothing has been working out until now. There has been significant amount of curiosity from the people in the lithium-sulfur batteries in the last couple of years and a recent breakthrough experiment conducted by the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside can make these batteries the next big obsession. All it took was a simple glass of the experiment.

Lithium-ion batteries and Lithium-sulfur batteries: 

The traditional Lithium-ion batteries have become a part of different types of models of phones and technologies, mainly as they have considerable amount of energy density as well as comparatively long life. Before these batteries can fail, the user can recharge it for a few hundred times. Apart from this, there is no effect on the memory as it was seen with nickel-metal hydride and older nickel cadmium rechargeable. The lithium-sulfur battery falls short in terms of them being dirty and not because of any memory effects.

Compared to the conventional lithium-ion battery, a new lithium-sulfur battery has ten times more of energy density. Just image a huge Android phone with 30,000mAh of juice unlike the usual 3,000mAh, now this is something to be excited about. The current lithium-sulfur technology has indicated a drop as the lithium and sulfur reaction products starts to clog the works. These products (lithium polysulfides) dissolve in the electrolyte solution and get stuck to the electrodes. This process decreases the overall capacity and there is no solution to reverse this process.

According to the UC Riverside team, this “polysulfide shuttling” process can be prevented by using the nano-scale sulfur beads inside the cathode and coating of the battery with the SiO2. SiO2 is also known as glass. The thickness of the silica sheath is measured in nanometers (Tens). This sheath should not be too thick as it can interfere in the function of the battery. On the other hand, it cannot be too thin as it can lead to the rupturing of the glass layer and further lead to the formation of lithium polysulfides and lead to the structure damage.

Researchers found that coating the glass with the sulfur was able to give substantial improvements in durability however; it was still prone to rupturing. They found that this issue can be addressed by incorporating graphene oxide (mrGO) in the cathode, which added stability apart from making the nanoparticles less prone to rupture. They are however still unable to develop the kind of stability one can find in a commercial lithium-sulfur battery. With batteries becoming non-removable in phones and other devices, it is important that they last for few years. This experiment marks an evolution in the battery.

Some Common Misconceptions about Mobile Device Batteries

Technological advancement has not restricted the mindset of humans pertaining to the myth of mobile batteries. We are so much concerned about the battery life that we are ready to spend enough to get hands on a phone, which will ensure a couple of days of usage. There are devices that have claimed to have a battery life extended for weeks as in case of Amazon Kindle. Mobile phone users have very specific and unique ideas about keeping their mobile batteries working for a long time. However, on the other side, not everything pertaining to the batteries can be simply trusted. So let us read about some of the misconceptions pertaining to the battery that we use every day:

1. Memory power of battery: 

Not true at all. People often think that they need to train their phone battery to perform to its complete potential and uses most of the charge. They will drain the battery power out and keep on charging it regularly. They believed that any percentage near 50% is good and the phone does not need charging.

2. Other company brand chargers spoil the battery: 

Even though there are some off brand, chargers that are not optimal but they do not do any damage to the battery. As long as the charger is working, they will allow the battery to operate properly. You can certainly opt for an off brand charger from the market made for your device as a replacement with the only drawback that it will not give you the same 15 minutes= 8 hours usage.

3. Overnight charge damages battery: 

Most of the phones are now smart enough to analyze when the battery is fully charged and it will automatically stop charging. Instead of keeping the phone to charge overnight, charge the battery when it is between 40-80% for optimum battery life.

4. Don’t use phone when on charge: 

People often believe that using phone while charging will have negative impact on the batter life of the phone. This is only true in case if you are using any off brand low quality charger.

5. Battery is damaged if phone is turned off: 

It is not true but if you keep your phone turned off for long time, the battery is drained. In android devices rebooting the phone will bring back the functionality of the phone.

6. Charge the phone full before using it: 

Smartphone batteries perform the best when charged between 40-80%, so if you have a new phone, you should be able to use it immediately without charging it.

7. Extend life by putting in freezer: 

Li-Ion batteries are affected by heat and cold hence room temperature is the best. Cold is an enemy and hot is not required for smartphones devices. Always store phone where there is ventilation, you might get moisture but will avoid overheating of the device and battery.

8. Using internet uses lot of battery: 

Only the games drain the battery power. Games should be played with less brightness, but if the phone is on charging then you can keep the brightness on. Viewing videos through You-tube and other graphics-intensive can certainly drain the battery power.

The Recent Invention Reveals How to Regain the Charge in your Mobile Phone within Two Minutes

Sometimes, you may face serious problems due to the dead battery in your smart phone. It prevents you to communicate and thus you are able to inform about the urgent situation. So, you may feel the need of such equipment that can help you with the instant charging opportunity.

The scientists are able to come out with a suitable solution to get rid of the difficulty. Installing a particular aspect in the mobile battery, you are able to get your smart phone charged within two minutes. It saves your time helping you to get your phone activated without any difficulties.

Get Familiar with the Particular Feature

Basically, the substance is recognized as a gel that has its source from Titanium Dioxide. You can discover the product in sunscreen that helps you to incorporate ample charge in your mobile battery. Implementing the feasible component increases the status of the chemical reactions that are responsible to regain the charge 10,000 times faster.

Therefore, it comes out as the beneficial procedure helping you to manage the entire situation using the mobile phone. Simply, replacing the graphite positioned at the anode of the battery with the gel from Titanium Dioxide it is possible to achieve the improved outputs.

The suitable idea came into brains of the scientists at Nanyang Technological University situated in Singapore. The users can acknowledge the feasible opportunities using the battery for about 20 years after which they need to replace the old one.

Get Familiar with the Usability

Before, you install the suitable aspect in your mobile battery it is important to know the complete details regarding the functionality of the system. You can have two years to browse the online information that reveals important fact on the particular topic.

According to the statement of the researchers, it would take two more years to bring the suitable form of battery to the public view. Installing the battery, you can accumulate up to 70% charge within your smart phone battery.

Also, it would take only two minutes to complete the process and thus you do not have to wait for a long time to get it in your hands. In this respect, you even communicate with the experienced person who can divulge certain additional data regarding the facilities that you would receive. It helps you to operate the features properly accompanied with the optimistic features that you need especially during the urgencies.

The Final Verdict

Taken as a whole, you are able to recognize the real time benefits that help you to comprehend the importance of technology in today’s contemporary civilization. Hence, you do not have to search for other options, as you are carrying a dead battery in your smart phone.

You can have the improved form of technology that allows you to overcome the hurdles easily recognizing the feasible solutions. It appears as the great success for the researchers who are able to come out with the unique solution. The entire society would be benefited eliminating the intricacies while on the way.

Charge It Up

Letters are a thing of the past. Telegrams are obsolete. Distance is no longer distant. The world has entered the age of technology. Phones are as smart as humans. Unfortunately, they tend to die faster. To prevent the phone from dying, charging is the only solution. Sometime, our handy chargers fail. Retrieving the phone from the land of dead, even then, is rather simple. Following steps might help.


THE SOLUTION:
 
There could be a number of solutions to this problem depending on what is causing it.

• QUICK FIX: To begin with, pulling the battery out of the device, could be a good start. After a while, assemble the phone and plug it into the original charger. This works in most cases. If the smart phone comes with an in-built battery, then, stimulated battery pull could be a good alternative. 
• CLEAN IT UP:

Often dirt or other particles get lodged inside the port which prevents it from getting charged. If there is something lodged inside the port, the phone will not respond to the charger. In such a situation, the solution is to clean the port, plug the charger back, and continue charging.

• USE A DIFFERENT PORT:

Temporarily, a quick fix could be to use a different port, it could be the computer’s charger or the car’s. Attaching the phone to the computer and charging it is an immediate and effective solution. Moreover, it works every single time!

• USE A DIFFERENT OUTLET:

There might be no problem with the charger altogether, it could be the outlet. Thus checking the outlet could be a good option. Things might just get fixed by shifting the charger from one outlet to the other.

• CONTINUE CHARGING:

Sometime, since the battery has died down completely, it might take a longer time to get started. So, a good idea is to continue charging and wait till the battery is energized enough to restart and join the world of connectivity.

• TIME FOR A NEW BATTERY:

May be the real reason behind this inconvenience is the fact that the battery cannot deliver its services any longer. Thus, changing the battery could be essential. Before replacement, taking the option of an expert is crucial. A good idea is to take it to a mobile operator.

• CHANGING CHARGERS:

If nothing works whatsoever, it could be because the charger is damaged and need fixing. In this regard getting a new charger is the only alternative. Good deals on chargers are available online for the phone will not work without a charged up battery.

• TIME TO GET A NEW PHONE:

If everything suggested above have failed to retrieve the phone, including getting a new battery and changing chargers. Then it is not the fault of the battery or the charger but of the concerned phone and in such a situation, the only possible solution is to buy a new phone and replace the old one for time has out-smarted it.

Laboratories: looks like the high-tech of the future - V

Music from blocks

Researchers at Southampton University have created a new way to generate computer music. This software, audio d-touch, works with a computer and a webcam. By using simple techniques of computer vision, physical blocks are drawn on a printed circuit. The position of the block then determines how the computer samples and reproduced the sound.

A concept that doubles the life of batteries

While most portable devices are equipped with rechargeable batteries, the batteries are far from obsolete. Especially since inspired many designers continue to develop ideas for improvement. The latter concept is called date One =  Two Battery.

These batteries is unusual. Its body is like a spring at the ends of which are a positive terminal and a negative terminal. This battery has the advantage of being more efficient than others. According to its designer, its lifespan is twice that of normal cells. One = Two Battery is based on the same principle as conventional batteries.

MENDO Kandenchi, mouse shaped like a AA battery

Japanese manufacturer Elecom has developed a unique mouse called: MENDO Kandenchi Mouse. This mouse unconventional is cut like a stack. 32.5 mm x 32.5 mm x 53 mm, that is the size of the computer mouse-like 32 grams of a AA battery. Contrary to what one might imagine, MENDO Kandenchi is held vertically, which makes its use even more original. This is an optical mouse and wireless.