Indian-origin scientist designs nano-sized batteries
A team of scientists at Rice University led by an Indian origin scientist Pulickel M. Ajayan has packaged lithium ion batteries, which power mobiles and smartphones, into a single nanowire. The breakthrough could be a valuable power source for new generations of nanoelectronics.
Ajayan, did his B. Tech in metallurgical engineering from Banaras Hindu University in 1985, India and Ph.D. from Northwestern University US in 1989.
Ajayan has published the study on the nanowire energy storage devices in a recent issue of Nano Letters along with other Rice engineers Sanketh R. Gowda, Arava Leela Mohana Reddy, Xiaobo Zhan.
The researchers first fabricated a new thin-film hybrid electrochemical system consisting of a nickel-tin (Ni-Sn) anode and polyaniline (PANI) cathode, which showed good electrochemical performance. As a hybrid electrochemical device (HED), the system combines the advantages of batteries (high energy) and supercapacitors (high power) into one design.
To fabricate the same system on a nanowire array, the researchers used nanowire templates with pore diameters of about 200 nm. After coating the pores with a thin copper layer, the researchers filled the pores halfway with Ni-Sn to make the anode. Then the researchers chemically widened the pores in order to coat the Ni-Sn with a thin layer of polyethylene oxide (PEO) electrolyte, which served as the separator. Finally, the PANI cathode was integrated into the structure by an infiltration process. Overall, the entire nanowire was a few micrometers long and had a total area of about 0.5 cm2.
The researchers fabricated several of these devices and then arranged them in a parallel array for testing. By charging and discharging the devices, the researchers demonstrated that the devices have overall good charge/discharge characteristics that could make them attractive for powering nanoelectronic devices.
“Our work here has for the first time demonstrated the fabrication of all three major components of an energy storage device – anode, electrolyte, and cathode – on a single nanowire,” Ajayan toldPhysOrg.com. “This represents the ultimate form of miniaturization promised by nanotechnology and an advance in fabricating more complex and functional nanowire building blocks for future nanotechnology applications.”
Related Articles
- Woman power fires ISRO’s trek : N. Valarmathi headed the launch of RISAT-1
- Royal Society Elects Scientists as New Fellows for 2012
- Vikram J Singh named Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia
- Illegal Indians quitting recession-hit UK?
- Asia Society’s Indian American president and CEO Vishakha Desai to step down
- 11 Indian Pilgrims Die in Nepal Air Crash; 5 Survive
- Teen cleared of murder, convicted of conspiracy & assault in fatal beating of NJ’s Divyendu Sinha
- SABA endorses Judge Sanjay Kumar’s re-election bid
- Indian origin Kamal Bawa donates sustainability award money
- Indian origin Pradeep Khosla becomes UC San Diego chancellor
Most Recent
- Woman power fires ISRO’s trek : N. Valarmathi headed the launch of RISAT-1
- Royal Society Elects Scientists as New Fellows for 2012
- Vikram J Singh named Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia
- Illegal Indians quitting recession-hit UK?
- Asia Society’s Indian American president and CEO Vishakha Desai to step down
- 11 Indian Pilgrims Die in Nepal Air Crash; 5 Survive
- Teen cleared of murder, convicted of conspiracy & assault in fatal beating of NJ’s Divyendu Sinha
- SABA endorses Judge Sanjay Kumar’s re-election bid
- Indian origin Kamal Bawa donates sustainability award money
- Indian origin Pradeep Khosla becomes UC San Diego chancellor