{"id":586,"date":"2010-02-12T23:57:50","date_gmt":"2010-02-13T06:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=586"},"modified":"2010-02-24T20:27:34","modified_gmt":"2010-02-25T03:27:34","slug":"structures-as-batteries-or-is-it-batteries-as-structures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/structures-as-batteries-or-is-it-batteries-as-structures\/","title":{"rendered":"Structures as Batteries – or Is It Batteries as Structures?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imperial College London and its partners,\u00a0including Volvo, have\u00a0announced a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a33.4 million (about $5.44 million) project to develop a\u00a0new energy storage material <\/a>that could act as a structural material in cars.\u00a0 The lightweight, carbon-fiber-based material could replace traditional materials in the car’s structure while storing electrical energy.\u00a0 This dual-purpose material could save the weight of separate batteries, increase the strength of the car’s structure,\u00a0and improve overall vehicle performance.<\/p>\n

Dr. Emile Greenhalgh, of the College’s Aeronatical Department, and coordinator of the project, sees other opportunities for this material.<\/p>\n

“We are really excited about the potential of this new technology. We think the car of the future could be drawing power from its roof, its bonnet (editor’s note: hood, to you Yanks<\/em>.)\u00a0or even the door, thanks to our new composite material. Even the Sat Nav could be powered by its own casing. The future applications for this material don\u2019t stop there \u2013 you might have a mobile phone that is as thin as a credit card because it no longer needs a bulky battery, or a laptop that can draw energy from its casing so it can run for a longer time without recharging. We\u2019re at the first stage of this project and there is a long way to go, but we think our composite material shows real promise.”<\/p>\n

Here, Dr. Greenhalgh demonstrates the material’s ability to capture, store and release energy.<\/p>\n