18-year-old’s breakthrough invention can recharge phones in seconds

Hello

Pretty impressive, an 18-year-old science student from Saratoga, California tied for second place out of over 16,000 finalist from around the world at the pheonix science fair..

She created a small supercapacitor that can fit inside a cell phone battery and enable ultra-fast electricity transfer and storage, delivering a full charge in 20-30 seconds instead of several hours.

The device can supposedly withstand up to 100,000 charges, and is flexible enough to be used in clothing or displays on any non-flat surface. It could also one day be used in car batteries and charging stations

My cell phone is always dead and I'm constantly having to plug it in.. It's gonna be nice to be able to charge it in 20-30 seconds

Pretty impressive for an 18 year old, talk about having a bright future

In case you were wondering who took first, it was a 19 year old Romanion student who created a low-cost artificial intelligence that can drive vehicles..

When I was 18 I couldn't even hold down my job at pizza hutt..
link

An 18-year-old science student has made an astonishing breakthrough that will enable mobile phones and other batteries to be charged within seconds rather than the hours it takes today’s devices to power back up

Originally posted by goou111
She created a small supercapacitor that can fit inside a cell phone battery and enable ultra-fast electricity transfer and storage, delivering a full charge in 20-30 seconds instead of several hours.

Not at all sure what the "invention" is here.

Edit - this page has a discussion on the technical details.

From what people are saying there, she built an Electric Double Layer Capacitor, which is not a new idea. And the energy density of what she created isnt all that special either.

This isnt the "genius kid saves the world" story that the media beatup would like it to be.

To quote from that other forum...

But, just to keep this in a bit of perspective, 20.1 Wh/kg is not that much, and is not going to replace the batteries in phones and laptops, where the Li-Ion batteries have a much higher energy density.

reply to post by goou111


They don't really explain much in the article.

But aren't we just moving the point of charge? The capacitor still needs to be charged to give the charge to the battery. But with this inside, it can charge once if you're away from a power source.

But don't people have second batteries to do this?

Impractical I know, and innovation like this shouldn't be dismissed. So good on her!

you're right too, at 18 I was too busy delivering furniture and looking forward to the weekend to spend my miserable pay packet.. Is it technology and the interaction with it at such a young age that is creating innovation at young ages? or are there still just people with that spark..

Technologically, I think even the most dim of todays youth are surpassing those who came before. I just get a very bleak feeling from the entire course we're heading.

reply to post by alfa1


I don't know alot about this stuff ,but I think the big deal is that it is small enough to fit inside a cell phone battery

reply to post by winofiend

Is it technology and the interaction with it at such a young age that is creating innovation at young ages? or are there still just people with that spark..

Great question... I think that if we had this kind of tech when I was young I might have got that spark..

So yes I think the interaction with it at a young age is creating innovation..

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by goou111
She created a small supercapacitor that can fit inside a cell phone battery and enable ultra-fast electricity transfer and storage, delivering a full charge in 20-30 seconds instead of several hours.

Not at all sure what the "invention" is here.

Supercapacitors have been around for quite a long time, and I'm quite sure she never "created" one.
And no, attatching one to a battery isnt going to work.

I am guessing that this bright young lady knows a bit more on the subject than you do!

In case you missed it, she did win second place.

P

reply to post by goou111


This is the important part of the description,,,,,

She created a small supercapacitor that can fit inside a cell phone battery and enable ultra-fast electricity transfer and storage, delivering a full charge in 20-30 seconds instead of several hours.

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by goou111
This isnt the "genius kid saves the world" story that the media beatup would like it to be.

To quote from that other forum...

But, just to keep this in a bit of perspective, 20.1 Wh/kg is not that much, and is not going to replace the batteries in phones and laptops, where the Li-Ion batteries have a much higher energy density.

edit on 19-5-2013 by alfa1 because: (no reason given)

well at least finish his quote

very, very cool But, just to keep this in a bit of perspective, 20.1 Wh/kg is not that much, and is not going to replace the batteries in phones and laptops, where the Li-Ion batteries have a much higher energy density Very, very cool! But, just to keep this in a bit of perspective, 20.1 Wh/kg is not that much, and is not going to replace the batteries in phones and laptops, where the Li-Ion batteries have a much higher energy density.



Still, all kudos for this young student, and good luck at the next level

and then the same guys next response

My own fault for mentioning the ED of this girl's capacitor as maybe not being that special- but stories like this are great. It shows that at least some young minds are creative and bright, and is perhaps a harbinger of what is to come. Also, this type of story may encourage other kids to pursue science, regarless of gender.

So why you hating lol

Originally posted by goou111
I don't know alot about this stuff ,but I think the big deal is that it is small enough to fit inside a cell phone battery

Wasnt sure how compact her battery would be, so went searching for more info.
She gives an energy density of 20.1 Wh/kg.

Is that good or bad?

Over at batteryuniversity there is a tutorial on the Li-ion batteries that you currently find in your devices, and here is a graph...



On that scale, 20.1 Wh/kg is a joke.

So it seems yes, she's created a battery. But its not a particularly good one. Elsewhere, I also read that a real battery company has cracked the 400 Wh/kg benchmark.

reply to post by alfa1


Well I still hope I can charge my cell phone in 20 seconds in the future lol

reply to post by alfa1


I am sorry mate but since you know so much, why did she win second prize amongst so many entries. Instead of spending your time and ours, knocking the girls achievement, may I cordially suggest that you spend your time finding out more about her invention and why she won it.

Why do some people always want to knock down an obvious achiever?

Tall poppy syndrome?

P

Well that would certainly be helpful, but she placed second next to Auto-Pilot inventor:

Khare was the runner-up to 19-year-old Romanian student Gorden E. Moore, who created a low-cost artificial intelligence that can drive vehicles.

reply to post by alfa1


to her defence, it probably doesnt have as much development time as the others.

so its pretty good effort. but then again i dont know much about batteries.

I wonder - is there something we could stick in an 18 year old's butt that would give them such a charge -

I bet every parent out there would buy one.

Joe

Originally posted by pheonix358
reply to post by alfa1

 

may I cordially suggest that you spend your time finding out more about her invention and why she won it.

Why do some people always want to knock down an obvious achiever?

Tall poppy syndrome?

P

Have you spent some time finding out what she has invented?

If you have, then you know she didn't invent, but rather, she "implemented" a known solution, which is not practical for real world, but good to improve her skills.

Found this link which gives more detail to her project and how it works:

Project summary

While supercaps are not new, this girl designed and built a novel design which is quite an achievement for anyone, never mind an 18 year old.

However I did note she gave the energy density per kg which makes it sound impressive, rather than per unit volume, where it isn't so impressive.

It's also good that the media are portraying scientific achievements in a positive light.

Originally posted by Alchemst7
Found this link which gives more detail to her project and how it works:

Project summary

The title from your link

Design and Synthesis of Hydrogenated TiO2-Polyaniline Nanorods for Flexible High-Performance Supercapacitors

And I'm allready lost :w:

Interesting stuff... can someone please inform me how this differs from the super supercap:

It almost seems like she's invented the same thing as these guys at almost the same time, although it looks like her result isn't quite as impressive as the professional scientists who designed the super supercap.

Originally posted by pheonix358
Instead of spending your time and ours, knocking the girls achievement,

Sorry if it came across that I was knocking the girls achievement.

But what I was really targeting was the way the media portrayed is as the genius teenager who outsmarted the rest of the world.

18-year-old’s breakthrough invention
has made an astonishing breakthrough
Eesha Khare made the breakthrough
a 100-fold increase over current technology

No. Its not the miracle the media portrayed it as.