Topic: Is this true??

[Storvick_XC]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091207/sc_nm/us_battery_paper

can they really make a battery out of paper??

[Kreeargh]

If you can power a walkman for 10 min with some potatoes im sure it is possable 

[Johnulus]

Seen on Daily Planet the paper battery is actually a compacitor, according to Jay Ingram.  It was pretty cool though.  Will lessen the weight of batteries by 20 percent if used.
I think I remembered that correctly.

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

Simply coating a sheet of paper with ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires makes a highly conductive storage device, said Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering

"These nanomaterials are special," Cui said. "They're a one-dimensional structure with very small diameters." The small diameter helps the nanomaterial ink stick strongly to the fibrous paper, making the battery and supercapacitor very durable. The paper supercapacitor may last through 40,000 charge-discharge cycles -- at least an order of magnitude more than lithium batteries. The nanomaterials also make ideal conductors because they move electricity along much more efficiently than ordinary conductors, Cui said.

There have been a lot of advances in capacitors allowing forms that can be charged and discharged at a variable rate so they can function as either batteries or capacitors.

[Commander Maxillius]

I have an idea for a diesel electric pickup-truck that uses capacitors instead of batteries and drives the wheels exclusively with the electric motor.  Just one, a high-torque motor that would use a "normal" transmission.

Fill the cavity between the outer and inner body panels of the box with capacitors, and use a 2.0L-3.0L german diesel engine.  Since I'm using capacitors, the engine has to run to load them, but fuel economy should be in the low 100 MPG range.

[sierracharlie]

Several countries are testing buses running on supercapacitors. The range is relatively short (4 to 10 miles) but the charge rate is very fast compared to batteries (on the order of seconds to minutes). The buses recharge at the bus stops. Gives them more flexibility than a rail system.

Supercaps are typically used for things like starting engines.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-8.htm

[stoneyface]

and if they used hemp paper it would be a renewable source for the paper

[marstone]

and if they used hemp paper it would be a renewable source for the paper

Last time I checked wood was a renewable resource, I think paper comes from that too. 

We have had two farms in ND trying to get permission from the Federal Government to grow hemp in this area again.  State has approved it, but it has been years they have been fighting the Feds.

[Corbomite]

It gets better!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8471362.stm

[Nemesis]

Ordinary cotton and polyester fabrics have been turned into batteries that retain their flexibility.

The demonstration is a boost to the nascent field of "wearable electronics" in which devices are integrated into clothing and textiles.

I don't want to be the first guy to find out what if feels like to short out my "underwear batteries". 

[Bonk]

"These nanomaterials are special," Cui said. "They're a one-dimensional structure with very small diameters."

One dimensional structures? I'm pretty sure such things do not exist, that would be a revolution in physics, math and philosophy. One dimensional, with a diameter? A diameter requires at least two dimensions. I distrust everything he says based on this.

Perhaps material scientists have a different lexicon?

A google search on "one dimensional structure" turns up all kinds of hits. WTF? This is new to me. Is this something that has happened in chemistry and physics in the last 20 years?

My mind is reeling, I cannot comprehend a one-dimensional structure that physically exists in three dimensions. It just makes no sense.

In theory, yes, one dimensional systems can be used as mathematical tools. But a physical one-dimensional molecule? That is huge!

One dimensional structures... if they are real, why haven't these guys gotten Nobel prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Math and Philosophy?

I must be missing something. I'm quite sure there is no such thing as a one-dimensional structure that physically exists in three dimensions. At least not made out of normal matter... the atom exists in three spatial dimensions, I'm pretty sure you can't use them to build a "one dimensional structure".

Perhaps he is talking about polymer chemistry? Or protein or crystal structure? (mislabelling the structure as one-dimensional? this could be the case as I see some biologists talking about protiens as one dimensional structures (which they most certainly are not)).

IUPAC people, IUPAC. 

edit: I've done a little reading and it appears this "one dimensional structure" term has appeared in the materials science lexicon within the last 20 years...

These structures ARE NOT one dimensional. They are real compounds made up of real atoms that exist in three dimensions.

I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Scientific terminology should be accurate and descriptive, not incorrect and misleading.

I bet these "one dimensional structure" guys like to prioritize [sic] things and use the word impact a lot.

[FRA.E.Kehakoul_XC]

No  the definition is quite straight forward, and based on  this,the guy is talking bs, not even a quantum dot  (bose einstein condensate) is one dimensional.
he has either  one of those wired mental analogue switches or he doesn't know his stuff.
I will vote for the first option as there are similar other nano materials out there many of them with exotic properties. Boron nano powder MgB2 superconductor wires for mri units for example ,which will allow to shrink those machines quite a bit in future.
Sounds promising imO.

[Bonk]

Google it, there are dozens of "scientists" using this phrase. (some even look legit: http://www.rsc.org/delivery/_ArticleLinking/DisplayArticleForFree.cfm?doi=b208100h&JournalCode=JM [PDF] - however this example uses the more understandable phrase "one dimensional chain structures")

Just to emphasise the point, a picture of a sample carbon nanotube structure is attached. Does that look one-dimensional? (I know you know the difference Kehakoul.)

I don't doubt that carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires might be able to be used to produce a very thin storage capacitor. Entirely conceivable. However, using this kind of terminology (user friendly buzzwords for the masses) just makes these guys look silly to anybody trained in science.

[Bonk]

Boron nano powder MgB2 superconductor wires for mri units for example ,which will allow to shrink those machines quite a bit in future.
Sounds promising imO.

Whoah, wait a minute, you've got my attention there. The question is will it do away with the need for traditional cryogenic cooling (all the bulk and hassle)? And will it allow higher field strengths (steeper gradients) and greater field homogeneity?

I must look into this, perhaps it is almost time... (man I hope to live to see it - real time, in vivo movies of biological processes at the molecular scale... I'm sure that is the best way to figure out how we really work... a bit brute force and purely visual, but that is how we work...)

[FRA.E.Kehakoul_XC]

Wait i got a link to the technical paper somewhere..,. here it is.

http://specmaterials.com/pdfs/BoronNanopowderTechnicalPaper.pdf