Produces extremely high performance batteries from the things we still throw away every day

The new battery is cheap and easy to manufacture, yet extremely high performance and durable.

A person's trash can be someone's inheritance, or at least a material for producing high-performance batteries. Assistant Professor Cary Pint, a mechanical engineering researcher at Vanderbilt University, has succeeded in making new batteries from the very stuff we throw away every day.

Cary Pint's batteries are small in size, made of steel, copper, and commonly used potassium hydroxide (found in detergents, dyes, etc.). These batteries can store the same amount of energy as traditional lead acid batteries, but they can charge and discharge at the same speed as super capacitors.

The biggest advantage of this new type of battery is the low cost of production , which can take advantage of the waste material and no harmful chemicals. According to Cary Pint, this is the last piece of a clean energy system.

It does not make sense to create clean energy from solar panels, but then store the energy in lead-acid batteries. This type of battery has a very negative impact on the environment and people.

"This is the first time that a battery has been used to make these materials." First, the anodization process covers an outer layer, which helps the metal surface from being eaten. There is a layer of iron oxide on the outside of the steel plate, which will have a copper oxide layer, and then the two plates are put into a glass jar with a potassium hydroxide solution. "

The team tested and reported that after 5,000 recharges (about 13 years of use of normal batteries), the efficiency of the new battery was 90%. However, this is only a prototype.