14 DAY TRIAL // Batteries have been getting better lately, both in terms of charge life and speed of recharging, but there is always room for improvements, and a certain student has just revealed one.
Intel has recently hosted a gathering called the International Science and Engineering Fair, where it allowed young would-be scientists to present inventions in the hope of scoring a prize.
One of the three winners is 18-year-old Eesha Khare, who invented a very small piece of technology, a supercapacitor, that can recharge phone batteries in 20-30 seconds.
The invention impressed so much that she won $50,000 / €38,810 and, thus, can now attend Harvard University and continue her research.
What's more, Google contacted her, although she did not say exactly why.
The project is called “Design and Synthesis of Hydrogenated TiO2-Polyaniline Nanorods for Flexible High-Performance Supercapacitors” and secured Khare's spot on the winners list.
So far, Khare hasn't sold her work to anyone, and hasn't expressed intentions of doing so. Perhaps she is waiting to see who makes her an offer, besides Google.
After all, any company that launches a phone or tablet that can recharge in half a minute will gain a great advantage worldwide.
There is also another thing: the technology can work just as well in electric cars. It might be the missing link that will make them one-up petrol-based vehicles.
At present, the supercapacitor can hold 10,000 charge-recharge cycles. That's 10 times better than normal batteries. As if the recharge speed wasn't enough of a breakthrough.
Not only that, but the supercapacitor could be weaved into fabric and bendable displays as well.
Nevertheless, Khare still has to make some finishing touches. After all, so far, the invention has only been used to power an LED.
Watch the video below for an introduction to the intriguing invention.
