Charged in 30 seconds: Israeli firm claims battery breakthrough

System uses biological semiconductors, made from naturally occurring organic compounds
Can fully charge a phone in 30 seconds
First battery cases using technology set to go on sale in 2016

By MARK PRIGG Daily Mail

An Israeli startup claims to have developed a technique to recharge a mobile phone in just 30 seconds.
StoreDot has revealed a prototype of its charging device, showing it charging a handset it seconds.

Although it has kept the exact technology behind the demonstration secret, it says that the system could eventually work for any gadget, allowing laptops to be charged in minutes rather than hours.

WHAT IS A NANODOT?

StoreDot sprang from research into Alzheimer’s at Tel Aviv University.

Researchers discovered naturally occurring crystals two nanometers in diameter that show interesting properties.
The crystals, short chains of amino acids called peptides, can store a charge or emit light, are easy and cheap to make, and are non-toxic, the company claims.

The firm is working on using the crystals, which it calls NanoDots, for displays and semiconductors as well as batteries.
StoreDot was born out of the nanotechnology department at Tel Aviv University and developed its prototype for Samsung’s Galaxy 4.

The firm showed the first demonstration at Microsoft’s Think Next conference in Tel Aviv.

StoreDot has been developing biological semiconductors, made from naturally occurring organic compounds called peptides, or short chains of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.

The technology can be used, among other things, to speed charging times, the company says.
The prototype charger is currently the size of a laptop charger, but the company says it has a parallel engineering effort aimed at reducing its size.

The estimated cost will be twice that of an average phone charger, which is up to $30.
StoreDot says commercial production in planned for late 2016.

‘Our innovative nanotechnology, inspired by nature, changes the rules of mobile device capabilities,’
Dr. Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot said last year when the firm announced $6m in funding.

‘This investment is important not only as a source of capital, but also as a vote of confidence in our novel approach of utilizing synthesized bio-nanomaterials to shape next-generation devices.

‘Having built our Nanodot core technology, the company’s initial focus will be to introduce dramatic improvements in next-generation smartphones and tablets.’

‘Manufacturing Nanodots is relatively inexpensive as they originate naturally, and utilize a basic biological mechanism of self-assembly,’ the firm says.

‘They can be made from a vast range of bio-organic raw materials that are readily available and environmentally friendly.
StoreDot batteries will be charged much faster than current batteries, and will withstand thousands of charge/discharge cycles, prolonging battery life expectancy considerably, the firm says.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2599243/Charged-30-seconds-Israeli-firm-claims-battery-breakthrough-change-way-charge-phones-laptops.html