Introducing The Paper Battery

By Digital Trends Staff August 14, 2007

Introducing The Paper Battery It might sound a little like science fiction, but really it’s science fact. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have created a batterythat’s 90 percent cellulose; in other words, it’s made of the same plant cells used in nearly every type of paper. The battery can be twisted, rolled, even folded and cut withoutany loss of efficiency or integrity. The paper batteries can even be stacked, like a ream of paper, to increase the output. What powers it are aligned carbon nanotubes in the paper, which act aselectrodes and allow the battery to conduct electricity. The battery is described in a new paper, “Flexible Energy Storage Devices Based on Nanocomposite Paper,” which waspublished this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. According to Robert Linhardt, professor of biocatalysis and metabolic engineeringat RPI, the idea came from a collaboration between three different groups of students. They developed three separate devices that can be used individually or together: There’s the battery, apiece of paper a few inches across that is black on one side and gray on the other; there’s also a supercapacitor, and finally a hybrid device, which combines the two. The devices can beprinted like paper. “If we stack 500 sheets together in a ream, that’s 500 times the voltage,” explained Professor Linhardt. “If we rip the paper in half we cut power by 50%.So we can control the power and voltage issue.” Its size makes the battery ideal for portable devices, but it could easily work in a pacemaker, although bigger things, like cars, remainproblematic. But it’s all still some way from the market. The supercapacitor will likely be the first to roll out commercially, and even that will take a few years.

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Black Friday battery deals: Save on AA and AAA batteries

AmazonsBasics AA batteries being inserted into a game controller.

Given that today is the first day of Black Friday, a lot of folks are likely going to be taking advantage of tons and tons of Black Friday deals. Being the best sale of the year to buy electronics, though, it's likely that many of these devices will need batteries. To that end, we've collected some of the best AA and AAA battery deals we could find to save you the trouble of having to rush to get batteries while a cool piece of tech is sitting waiting to be used. And don't think we've only focused on traditional batteries since we've found deals on some of the best rechargeable batteries on the market.
Best AA battery Black Friday deals
AA batteries are used for many different purposes. For instance, they can be used for a flashlight, a calculator, a digital thermometer, along with smoke detectors or a traditional wall clock. They can also be used for remotes along with toys, so they're a very versatile type of battery. Old school gamers will likely fondly remember them as 'Gameboy' batteries referring to swapping out batteries for the Nintendo Gameboy. While many devices may use batteries that can be charged via a USB cable or similar, there are still enough using AA batteries that it's handy to have some spare at home.

Powermax 24-Count AA Batteries --
Deleepow 8-pack Rechargeable AA batteries --
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Holy smokes! This bundle of 240 AA and AAA batteries is 69% off

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We sort of take it for granted, today, that any device we get will come with its own rechargeable battery. When we do get a device that requires a battery — usually AA or AAA — there is often an associated level of "pain" with this news. Kitchen shelves are opened and closed, the ubiquitous junk drawer is sifted, and there is possibly a trip to the store to be had. Why can't everything just use USB-C cables, again? In any event, you can get 240 batteries, 120 AA and 120 AAA, for just $47 over at Woot right now. Not only will this save you the woes of battery finding when you need them, but it will also save you $103 from the initial price of $150. These batteries are only on sale until supplies dry up or the 30th, so be sure to tap the button below and pick up yours today.

Why you should buy AA and AAA Amazon Basics Batteries
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