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Russian scientists have created a battery for laptops for ten hours of
continuous work. The block represents a fuel cell created using nanotechnologies.
According to scientists, by the end of 2009 fuel cells will be launched
into production with 10 thousand monthly output. The project has become
international.
The Russian scientists have created
a laptop battery for 8-10 hours of continuous work, Lev Trusov, professor,
doctor of engineering, director general of the Aspect Association, which
is the vendor of the mentioned above battery, reports to N&I Agency
Novosti.
‘We begin to develop and organize
production of an autonomous source of current for laptops. The given battery
should operate for ten hours under 20W load. That is a real scientific
and market breakthrough based on domestic developments’, - said Mr. Trusov
at the Second International Hydrogen Forum that opened in Moscow the other
day.
The new battery has been developed
on the basis of the so called fuel cells, which differ from ordinary batteries
by substances for electrochemical reactions to come from outside. Such
a battery life is unlimited (it works till it is provided with a substance
for reaction, i.e. methanol, or hydrogen) and it needs no reloading like
accumulators.
One of the most important constituents
of fuel cells is a porous membrane with a catalyst, which participates
in the fuel decomposition reaction and electric current production. The
narrower the membrane pores, the larger the contacting area with the catalyst,
the smaller the element might be. The New block membrane has been developed
by the Russian scientists using the so called gradient porous matrix nanostructures.
Mr. Trusov believes the battery for a modern laptop should weigh no more
than 100-150 grams. A thin multi-layer nanostructure used in the Russian
scientists’ invention resolves the issue of high energy concentration density
per unit volume. The specific power is 180 MW per square centimeter. Moreover,
developers have done their utmost to make the battery harmless for users.
Mr. Trusov says an agreement
to arrange the joint product production has been signed between the Russian
Plant Tenzor and the US Company Medis Technology in Dubna. Medis Technology
is known for creation and production of a portable battery on the basis
of an alkaline fuel cell for mobile devices.
According to Mr. Trusov, the
battery will be set for production in lines. ‘We plan to produce 10 thousand
units a month by the end of next year’, - says the scientist. The plant
in Dubna is expected to produce about 100 thousand batteries for laptops
a year.
The Aspect project has been selected
by the International Partnership for Hydrogen Economy – IPHE – and included
into IPHE program as an international project.
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