self-charging AA battery design

Utilizing the latest bleeding-edge technology; neotoy presents the draft design for an AA form factor "battery" that combines multispectral Nanoantenna material and Super Capacitors to self-charge at all times.

Don't get excited, this is just a virtual prototype, and will most likely never go into production. However it's important to note that the technology is available to construct such a battery right now. In fact, if you visit the official nano.gov site, you can even find a reference to the very concept employed in this demo.

Still not convinced? Check out the links below:

Nanoantennas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoantenna

Solar Plastics
http://www.nano.gov/html/facts/nanoapplicationsandproducts.html

Super Capacitors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_capacitor

Honda's Ultra-capacitor
http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/FCX/ultracapacitor/

All that being said.. Keep in mind the first law of thermodynamics:

"Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change forms."

Always ask yourself before moving forward; will the effect of this phase change on the environment and humanity be positive or negative?

In the modern world, the millions of batteries produced every year pose a constant risk to ecological and human health. Nanotechnology is still an extremely nascent field of science. More research needs to be done- a lot more. Products like this simply should not be mass produced until a comprehensive risk assessment is complete.

July 21, 2010 Update:

Check out this similar concept, only far less advanced & practical, but extra points for an actual physical (and quite attractive) prototype:

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/02/19/batteries-recharged.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• nano
• nanoantenna
• supercapacitor
• ultracapacitor
• battery
• self
• charging
• multispectral
• design
• prototype
• second
• life
• nanocell
• renewable
• sustainable
• green
• risk
• assessment
• AA

[JoeTheBiochemist]

This actually wouldn't work, because you have no means of rectification. Electromagnetic radiation produces an AC signal. Which is great if you want your battery to rapidly charge and discharge by infinitesimal amounts, but if you want to capture a charge that can be used, you'll need a diode. Diode efficiency is far too low for this device to be practical, because individual photons cannot forward bias a diode. Perhaps "electrotransmissive gate" is your solution, but that's not a real thing.

[neotoy]

@JoeTheBiochemist Thanks for the thoughtful response. As you surmised the ET gate is my solution to the diode problem, and is in fact a type of diode mesh. Keep in mind the solar array is multispectral therefore it can absorb a wide swath of radiation, not just photons! All this energy is aggregated in the mesh and then passes through the gate when it reaches the ideal capacity. Does such a thing exist? Maybe, if not it is easy to imagine and doubtless just as easy to create.

[qdceps]

i think it is possible but maybe the AA batteries are not the best aplication you can try. Maybe you should try a design for a simpler and smaller battery like the used in a watch and combine the watch design with the battery charging device to prove it. Remember de Casio solar powered watches?

Keep trying, I think that all that electromagnetic energy flowing across the air can be used in small aplications like that. Cellular phones, iPods, mp3 players, watches, cameras, you name it!!!

[neotoy]

@qdceps Like most of my designs this is more of a "proof of concept" than anything else. That being said, it's very hard to create a new market for anything, and that goes double for establishing new standards. Clearly the AA form-factor is sub-par, as are almost all battery designs, but designing a new form-factor for batteries means that all applications that use preexisting battery designs need to be re-manufactured.

[andrzej1983]

This guy is an idiot ! 

[neotoy]

@andrzej1983 you really shouldn't talk about yourself in the third person!

[olzzn]

Stop rotating.....

[noisyneil]

skip to 2:00

[cyberscann54]

ever since the invention of the radio there millions of radio waves going through everything given the current state of technology that we are at it is completely possible to build a battery like device that can recharge via EMF waves in the air. concept is sound justs needs to be built. EMF waves are everywhere we go we even produce them from our bodies the sun makes them any and all electronics make them. To all those who think this is not possible build a crystal radio and see for your self

[derrickrosette]

i want 1

[rudeplatypus]

@garagecrap you HONESTLY think he has the materials available?

[garagecrap]

Ok so why don't you make one? Theory means nothing till you got real hardware..