With Smartphone technology getting more advanced with each passing year, it's clear that battery life has become one of the bottle necks to innovation. While phones get slimmer, processors get faster, and screens grow bigger and brighter, significant gains in battery life have been few and far between.
Rachid Yazami of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University hopes to change all that. The Professor, who was one of the key figures behind the creation of the lithium-ion battery, has developed a new chip that he claims can shorten charging times down to just 10 minutes.
The fingernail sized microchip can be embedded into most standard battery models. According to The Straits Times, the small piece of hardware contains a special algorithm that monitors the battery's current health and charge level. This allows the charger to send the optimum amount of current to the device at all times, without any of the risks currently involved.
"Current chargers do not take into account the health of a battery when charging it. They send the same amount of charge regardless of the battery's condition. With this chip, the charge can be regulated to avoid damaging the battery."
He adds that, "This poses a serious risk for electric vehicles and even in advanced aeroplanes as usually big battery packs have hundreds of cells or more bundled together to power the vehicle or aircraft. If there is a chemical fire caused by a single failed battery, it could cause fires in nearby batteries, leading to an explosion."
At present, Lithium-Ion batteries are charged via a constant, but slow trickle of energy to limit the risk of overheating and fires. The chip would allow batteries to be charged at the maximum speed possible at the least possible time.
Top companies like Sony, Samsung, and Tesla have already shown an interest in Yazami's work. He hopes to chip will be ready for licensing some time in 2016.
