Wafer-thin plastic stores electricity

A recently published scientific development from researcher at the Imperial College London looks like another stepping stone towards wearable power.

The scientists created a super-capacitor in a flexible form by sandwiching a glass-fiber layer between two layers of carbon fibers which are covered with electricity conducting resign.

Super-capacitor, widely used in electronic products, have the property to be fast charged and dis-charged. They are not batteries but under certain conditions could easily act like short term electrical power storing devices.

The research project is funded by Volvo Car Corporation which sees a potential to use this technology to cover the whole car body with the flexible super-capacitor in future hybrid cars substituting or even replacing heavier, bulkier conventional batteries.

But this flexible super-capacitors could be also useful for wearable applications as they can conform to the body shape when integrated into clothing items.

Another environmental aspect of this new development: this form of electrical energy storing does not use chemical processes like it is the case in batteries, making them longer lasting as the recharging process causes little degradation in the composite material.

It’s energizing to see how ‘old’ technologies made with new materials create components that open the doors for new designs.

[via: DailyMail]

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