MIT Discovers The First Technologically Significant And Economically Viable Alternative To Conventional Batteries In More Than 200 Years.

A team of scientists at MIT have discovered a previously unknown phenomenon that can produce very rapid powerful waves of energy which shoot through carbon nanotubes, this will greatly improve on energy storage devices called ultracapacitors. The phenomenon, called thermopower waves, was discovered when the scientists coated nanotubes with a reactive fuel and when laser ignited at one end produced a fast-moving thermal wave that propagated down the length of the tube. The heat from the fuel rises to a temperature of 3,000 kelvins, and can speed a ring of heat along the tube 10,000 times faster than normal spread of this chemical reaction. The heat also pushes electrons down the tube which creates a substantial electrical current, essentially creating a new way of producing electricity along with non-degradating (while idle) energy storage. A nanotech battery that is a far superior alternative to traditional batteries which haven’t progressed much beyond the basic design developed by Alessandro Volta in the 19th century. (more…)