In general, the batteries that are currently used by electric devices, laptops and mobile phones are too heavy and contain little energy, require a long time to recharge and are still expensive to manufacture. Investigation in this field is continuous, given that discovering a light and inexhaustible would represent a genuine revolution in the sector.

Is the future here already?
Steel, carbon, lithium, nickel-cadmium and mercury are just some of the chemical components that have been used and are still used in the manufacture of batteries. In the future lithium polymers, or methanol micro-cells could be used to increase the capacity of batteries fifty-fold.

Lithium polymer batteries were initially used by Ericsson and since taken up by other companies, are very similar to the well-known lithium batteries. The new development is
that that they are now as thin as paper (they have a thickness of one millimetre), very flexible and mouldable, so they could lead to a true revolution in the design of mobile phones.

Voltaflex is a company that is currently manufacturing thinner and more flexible batteries, similar to paper. They are rechargeable lithium batteries that are able to proportionally generate at least twice the energy of conventional lithium batteries. Their entry into the market could lead to a transformation in the portable technology sector because their lightness means that the weight of the different devices will also drop considerably.

Liquid gas for mobiles
Motorola's investigators have launched a battery prototype able to produce energy from methanol, a type of alcohol. Oxygen and methanol are mixed together in a ceramic mixer generating electricity at room temperature.

This is a small and cheap battery, which lasts longer than lithium batteries and that in the future could power a mobile for a month. This type of technology is not confined to mobiles: any portable device could one day be as small and portable.

The sun, an inexhaustible energy source
The batteries of Sunpower Spectron, a company that distributes all sorts of devices related to solar power, are able to fully recharge a mobile phone in five hours.

A similar device is Isun's solar battery, which allows you to recharge a mobile without plugs or batteries as long as it is a sunny day. This device was developed by ICP Global Technologies, and can be stuck to a window to recharge with solar energy a PDA, GPS device or any other apparatus that has a consumption below two watts.

Did you know?
-The global volume of batteries sold a year is 30,000 million euros.
-There are over 200 battery manufacturing companies in the world.