Not such a ridiculous idea! Batteries made from SILLY PUTTY could make your phone last three times longer
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Silly Putty: one of the world's most popular toys and now, also, a novel way to make your phone hold a charge for longer?
That's according to a group of researchers in the Riverside Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California.
They've developed a way to use the material found in the toy and surgical tubes to make lithium-ion batteries that last three times longer between charges compared to the current standard.
A team of researchers from the University of California have created a lithium-ion battery that they say lasts three times longer the current industry standard using material found in Silly Putty. Pictured is the silicon polymer and battery used for the research
The team created silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanotube anodes for lithium-ion batteries and found they had over three times as much energy storage capacity as the carbon-based anodes currently being used.
A SILLY MISTAKE THAT TOOK THE WORLD BY STORM
Silly Putty was one of the most popular toys of the 20th century, a result of an 'accident' during the Second World War.
It was invented by engineer James Wright in New Haven, Connecticut in 1943 as he was attempting to create a synthetic rubber.
The result was not able to replace rubber - but its unusual qualities, the ability to flow like a liquid, bounce like a ball, or break given a sharp blow, made it a popular toy.
By 1987, two million Silly Putty eggs were sold every year.
The mass is composed of 65 per cent dimethyl siloxane (hydroxy-terminated polymers with boric acid), 17 per cent silica (crystalline quartz), nine per cent Thixatrol ST (castor oil derivative), four per cent polydimethylsiloxane, one per cent decamethyl cyclopentasiloxane, one per cent glycerine, and one per cent titanium dioxide.
The researchers say this has significant implications for industries including electronics and electric vehicles, which are always trying to squeeze longer discharges out of batteries.
'We are taking the same material used in kids' toys and medical devices and even fast food and using it to create next generation battery materials,' said Zachary Favors, the lead author of a paper on the research.
The paper, Stable Cycling of SiO2 Nanotubes as High-Performance Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries, was published online in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.
It was co-authored by Cengiz S. Ozkan, a mechanical engineering professor, Mihrimah Ozkan, an electrical engineering professor, and several of their current and former graduate students: Wei Wang, Hamed Hosseinni Bay, Aaron George and Favors.
The team originally focused on silicon dioxide because it is an extremely abundant compound, environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and found in many other products.
Silicon dioxide has previously been used as an anode material in lithium ion batteries, but the ability to synthesize the material into highly uniform exotic nanostructures with high energy density and long cycle life has been limited.
There key finding was that the silicon dioxide nanotubes are extremely stable in batteries, which is important because it means a longer lifespan.
Specifically, SiO2 nanotube anodes were cycled 100 times without any loss in energy storage capability and the authors are highly confident that they could be cycled hundreds more times.
The researchers are now focused on developing methods to scale up production of the SiO2 nanotubes in hopes they could become a commercially viable product.
Silly Putty, stock image shown, was one of the most popular toys of the 20th century, a result of an 'accident' during the Second World War. It was invented by engineer James Wright in New Haven, Connecticut in 1943 as he was attempting to create a synthetic rubber
The team created silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanotube anodes for lithium-ion batteries and found they had over three times as much energy storage capacity as the carbon-based anodes currently being used. From left to right: Cengiz Ozkan, Hamed Hosseinni Bay, Mihrimah Ozkan, Zachary Favors and Aaron George
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