Nano-engineered hybrid battery breakthrough?

Printable batteries?

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York State have developed a nano-engineered battery that is paper thin and can be cut, folded, rolled or molded, without losing its molecular integrity.

"As well as outputting low amounts of energy steadily over a long period, the mechanism can also be built as a supercapacitor, emitting a massive burst of energy in less than a second. And a completely new invention, a hybrid device, can do both. Potential applications for the new battery and supercapacitor device include hybrid cars," reports CNN.

Because of the device's thin, malleable nature, it could be incorporated into seats, door panels, etc., freeing up the space where batteries are normally placed in hybrid vehicles.

While the materials are cheap, there is not yet a way to mass produce these batteries. Let's hope that changes.

"When we get this technology down, we'll basically have the ability to print batteries and print supercapacitors," said Pulickel M. Ajayan, professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer, one of the co-authors of the paper.