This is just straight up awesome

Thu, 9 Jun 2011

Researchers at MIT are well on the way to developing a new alternate type of battery that in essence is a soft state liquid, making it easier to ‘refuel’ electronics, from electric cars to basically whatever the hell they’ll think of next.

The new battery relies on an innovative architecture called a semi-solid flow cell, in which solid particles are suspended in a carrier liquid and pumped through the system. In this design, the battery’s active components — the positive and negative electrodes, or cathodes and anodes — are composed of particles suspended in a liquid electrolyte. These two different suspensions are pumped through systems separated by a filter, such as a thin porous membrane.
The new design should make it possible to reduce the size and the cost of a complete battery system, including all of its structural support and connectors, to about half the current levels. That dramatic reduction could be the key to making electric vehicles fully competitive with conventional gas- or diesel-powered vehicles, the researchers say.

The concept of this is so brilliant and forward thinking, even just theoretical applications of use, not just to cars, already conjures up all sorts of different uses that’ll make our everyday lives more fluid and efficient. The future, I fucking love it. Read more on it here.