| Water Powered Battery?! No, No they arent. |
| Written by Hank Green | ||
| Thursday, 09 November 2006 | ||
 Three times today I've seen this headline, once at the very reputable Engadget. But it looks like they got the headline from the mainstream media at
Reuters. What the heck, if these were water powered batteries the
world's energy problems would be solved! No, they are water activated,
not water powered, someone somewhere misunderstood what Susumu Suzuki was saying. Either that, or they're just looking for a sweet headline.But what they are, is still quite remarkable. They're batteries made by a kind of powdered carbon capacitor. They produce the same amount of energy per kg as a normal battery, but they're made entirely out of some kind of dialectically active carbon. The amazing thing is that the carbon particles do not connect to create a current until they are moistened. Of course, this means that they would be extremely sensitive to humidity. But if kept dry, they would keep their full charge indefinitely, unlike any other kind of battery. Also, because they're made of carbon, which is everywhere, and not processed metal, which is hard to find, they are much cheaper (about 10% the cost of normal batteries), take less energy to produce, and entirely non-toxic. Water-powered, they aren't. Environmentally friendly, they are.
Via Engadget
Comments
(9)
Engadget
written by Joe , November 10, 2006
I'm not sure I'd attach the moniker 'reputable' to Engadget. They do a good job, but for the most part, as with many blogs, they simply post what they see as quickly as possible and make up a little story about it (adding the suffix -licious to as much text as possible) ... sometimes with very little actual research into the facts. Only my opinion though.
...
written by Carl , November 10, 2006
Dialectically ≠ dielectrically.
Unless you think the batteries are advancing a dialogue.
"dialectically active"...?
written by Joel , November 10, 2006
You're saying the carbon speaks with different accents, like Tracy Ullman?
I think you mean "electrochemically active". And many, many batteries use carbon electrodes, from the traditional (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc-carbon_batterycarbon-zinc) primary cells to the most advanced lithium ion and lithium polymer cells. In such cells, the interesting part of the battery is always the electrode opposite the carbon electrode, for exactly the reasons you mention: cost, durability, and toxicity. You might say that both electrodes are carbon in this battery, but what drives a battery is the difference between electrodes, which means the carbon would have to be processed in some energy-intensive way in order to introduce the imbalance that drives the current forward: you don't escape the need to refine some metal or invest some electricity in order to make the battery work. Also, there are other batteries with very long shelf lives that are activated by exposing them to the environment. Zinc-air and aluminum-air batteries are just two examples off the top of my head. Nice catch on the "water-powered" BS, but I really don't think you've taken the de-bunking far enough. These batteries may still be interesting, but not for the reasons you've listed.
Correction..
written by billn , November 10, 2006
I think he meant 'dielectrically active.'
Indeed I did
written by Hank , November 11, 2006
Though though a dialectically active battery would probably be something I'd buy in a heartbeat.
Oh, and also...
written by Hank , November 11, 2006
These batteries are interesting because they don't, really, have a cathode and an anode, they are much more similar to capacitors, and they don't contain any metal (unless the casing is metal.) The carbon, I imagine, does have peculiar processes, but the 1/10 the price of regular batteries comes from the scientist, not the headline writers, so I'm willing to stick with that. And they are definitely more environmentally sensitive than todays batteries disposable batteries.
how many of your dorks are going to make
written by rsfeller , November 13, 2006
about his misssspelling? who cares, we get the point?
00
written by Jacky Lo , June 06, 2007
yeah you're right rsfeller, WHOS CARE abOUT MISSSPELLING..
 
you suck
written by oo , March 08, 2008           you suck | ||
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