Smartphone fully charged in 1 minute: 'Trick' or unprecedented breakthrough?

Thanks to a breakthrough study from the University of Colorado (USA), the possibility of a smartphone being able to fully charge in 1 minute is no longer a far-fetched dream.

New research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has revealed the potential to make that a reality.

Accordingly, a research team at the University of Colorado (USA) has developed an advanced technique that allows phones to charge 100% in just 60 seconds. The secret lies in optimizing the movement of ions inside the supercapacitor. Researcher Ankur Gupta explains: "Supercapacitors are used to store energy in short-term charging and discharging cycles with high currents. By facilitating the movement of ions more efficiently, the charging and releasing of energy will take place more quickly, allowing phone batteries to charge from 0% to 100% in just one minute or even less."

While similar techniques have been used to study flow in porous materials such as oil tanks and water filtration, their application to energy storage systems has not been fully exploited. ' Recognizing the importance of energy to the future of the planet, I felt compelled to apply my chemical engineering knowledge to the development of energy storage devices,' Gupta said. 'This area seemed underexplored and it was the perfect opportunity.' Gupta believes that speed is the main advantage of supercapacitors , and the question is how to optimize the rate of charge and release. The answer lies in the movement of ions themselves.

Advanced technology allows phones to charge 100% in just 60 seconds. (Photo: Daily mail).

The team made important discoveries, showing that the way ions move is different from electrons at the intersection points of the nanopores. Furthermore, the ion movement does not follow Kirchhoff's laws - which have been used to determine the current in electrical circuits since 1845. Thanks to this research, simulating and predicting the movement of ions in a complex network of thousands of interconnected pores can be done in just a few minutes. "That's the breakthrough of this research," Gupta proudly asserted. "We found the missing link."

However, it is still unclear when this groundbreaking technology will be put into practical use and integrated into smartphones. However, the prospect of a smartphone that can be fully charged in a matter of seconds is sure to be a huge driving force for research and development.

The advent of this super-fast charging technology promises to revolutionize the mobile industry. Smartphone manufacturers can reduce battery capacity without affecting usage time, thereby freeing up space inside the device for components, improving processing and data storage capabilities.