MIT: Carbon nanotubes could make lighter, more powerful batteries

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Lightweight

carbon nanotubes MIT: Carbon nanotubes could make lighter, more powerful batteries

One of the biggest weaknesses of today’s battery technologies are their power-to-weight ratio. If you want to go fast or far, you need to carry a lot of heavy batteries with you. But a team of scientists from MIT have made a discovery that could signal the beginning of an entirely new age of energy storage technology. We want to say just one word to you… just one word. Are you listening? Nanotubes.

Nanotubes are hollow carbon tubules about a billionth of a foot in diameter. They’re one of the strongest substances on earth and one of the best conductors around. In fact, they can handle an electrical current density about 1000 times greater than copper. Now, the team from MIT says that carbon nanotubes have proven they could hold the key to super-powerful or super-lightweight batteries in the future. They’re not the only ones working on nanotube batteries, but they do have a unique approach.

Click past the break to find out more.

[Source: MIT News]

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MIT: Carbon nanotubes could make lighter, more powerful batteries originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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