Paper EV Batteries?

Paper batteries may make other EV battery types obsolete!

Paper batteries the size of a postage stamp have had the capability to power a small light bulb since 2007, and the ambition at the time was to able to use a newspaper-type roller printer to produce reams of paper that could one day power a car. Paper batteries are much more energy efficient than conventional batteries because all of the battery components are integrated into a single structure.

More recently a team of researchers at Stanford University led by Yi Cui, professor of materials science and engineering have recently demonstrated that paper batteries could be manufactured by simply painting standard off the-shelf copier paper with an ink containing carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. The paper is then dipped in a lithium-containing solution and an electrolyte to provide the chemical reaction that generates a battery’s electric current, which can be used for energy storage or as an supercapacitor.

Paper batteries have properties well suited for Electric Vehicles (EVs) as they could be up to 20% lighter than their conventional metal counterparts and last through 40,000 charge/recharge cycles according to Professor Cui. In addition paper batteries have the ability to release their stored energy very quickly, providing bursts of energy that could be used to help propel Electric Vehicles.

Editor’s Note:
Carbon Nanotubes have a wide range of applications and consist of hollow cylinders of carbon with a diameter equal to approximately one nanometer – a billionth of a meter. Carbon nanotubes possess extraordinary optical and electronic properties, tremendous strength and flexibility, and high thermal and chemical stability.