Is tin the secret to longer battery life?
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But alas, physics is a tough task master, so there are only so many ways to improve battery life. You can make a device sip less energy, although this comes at the cost of reduced performance. The only major gains that hardware can provide tend to be major generational shifts in chips, as manufacturers introduce smaller transistors to their chips.
Increasing battery size is obviously another possibility, and is they route taken by the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX, which achieves its astonishing battery life by packing a whopping 3300 mAH battery inside its chassis. But this solution quickly provides diminishing returns; customers adore battery life, but also love them some skinny phones that will slide into their pants pocket. The other problem is that making batteries larger also increases the charge time, a fact that RAZR MAXX and new iPad owners can both attest to.
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The problem is that silicon is harder to make into anodes; people want better batteries, but they aren’t willing to pay as much as a used car for them. But according to researchers at Washington State University there may be a shorter-term answer: Tin anodes. Tin isn’t as good at packing in electrons as silicon, but it’s significantly better than graphene, packing in three times as many electrons. Another benefit is that tin anodes charge faster, so the increased battery life wouldn’t require an equally increased charge time.
Most importantly, tin is easier to manufacture. It can be electroplated right to copper wires (graphene requires an extra step to get it to adhere) so it’s possible that tin anodes could eventually be cheaper to produce. Grant Norton, head of the materials science team working on tin anodes, thinks this could move from lab to production fairly quickly if a tech company were to properly invest in the process.
So here’s hoping that soon tin will be in more than just our pop cans – let’s hope someone runs with this and gives us affordable battery life that lasts 2-3x as long as today!
source: WSU News via Forbes
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37 Comments
1. darktranquillity posted on 24 May 2012, 11:11 21 5
Why can't the companies pool the money that they waste on patent litigations for a greater cause like long lasting battery life?
8. QinEmpire posted on 24 May 2012, 11:32 3 27
That will probably happen if Samsung and Google stop copying Apple.
12. remixfa posted on 24 May 2012, 11:48 11 1
Is this another of Taco's notorious alt accounts? geesh.
18. networkdood posted on 24 May 2012, 12:11 9 0
Maybe he is strikercho's step brother
26. taco50 (banned) posted on 24 May 2012, 15:45 0 9
No not my account, but i agree with the statement.
27. remixfa posted on 24 May 2012, 16:22 7 1
of course you do. your a moron.
28. taco50 (banned) posted on 24 May 2012, 16:50 0 9
*you're
The irony here of calling me a moron while making a grammatical error that's learned in the 3rd grade.
35. remixfa posted on 25 May 2012, 07:04 1 1
aww.. is da wittle baby troll picking on spelling again, thus proving that he has no actual argument left? aww.
29. Birds posted on 24 May 2012, 20:55 5 1
Remixfa, I've had a crush on you for a long time now. You are the geekiest phone geek I know. :)
30. Sniggly posted on 24 May 2012, 21:06 6 0
*starts playing some romantic bulls**t Italian music*
34. remixfa posted on 25 May 2012, 07:03 2 1
iiiiiiiiim in the moooooood for looooooove simply becaauuuuuse I aaaaaaaaaaaaaaam. :)
or
when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie.. thats amore. la lalala
24. PhoneArenaUser posted on 24 May 2012, 13:10 6 0
People are talking that oil company's has bought up all the patents for better batteries. :)
36. Fallout09 posted on 25 May 2012, 08:15 1 1
Would surprise me.... GE sat on a patent for a 10 year light bulb for like 10 years. I also remember GM buying a patent for a rotary car engine that get the same performance of a V8 while only running on 4 cylinders using 1/3 if the fuel.
37. troutsy posted on 29 May 2012, 15:06 0 0
I don't think that last part about GM is correct at all.
2. ryq24 posted on 24 May 2012, 11:15 4 0
expect a chinese company to try to buy or copy this technology.
3. Sniggly posted on 24 May 2012, 11:17 6 0
Motorola: get the f**k on this. Give us a new Razr Maxxed Out with a 3300 mAH battery and 63 hours of talk time. You know you want to.
4. biophone posted on 24 May 2012, 11:23 2 2
I saw the razr and razr maxx have a high sarr rating. Wonder if the battery has anything to do with it.
6. Sniggly posted on 24 May 2012, 11:31 10 1
Nah. Motorola phones almost always do. They skirt the edge of legal radiation limits because they stuff freaking powerful radios into their phones. It's why their reception and call quality are usually so good.
No worries though. I've been using Motorola phones for years, and I have no crippling tumors yet. Though I have grown a third eye. And I can suddenly jump really high. And I have a voracious appetite for human flesh now.
9. biophone posted on 24 May 2012, 11:37 3 0
I have noticed the sarr ratings for moto phones are usually high.
All kidding aside I just don't like the idea of my phone pushing the legal limits of radiation.
23. Sniggly posted on 24 May 2012, 12:42 4 0
Why? If it's still in the legal limits, it should be pretty damn safe. Look at Martin Cooper. He's been using cell phones for over 30 years and he's fine.
14. remixfa posted on 24 May 2012, 11:49 13 0
maybe taco should switch to moto, it might mutate him into an actual human.
16. EclipseGSX posted on 24 May 2012, 11:59 6 0
...or the most terrifying beast on the planet earth
21. kanagadeepan posted on 24 May 2012, 12:38 1 0
For that Moto is NOT at all enough... How about Cheap Chinese clone mobile phones selling for 10 to 20$ and SAR rating also in same range (10-20w/kg instead of
17. jmoita2 posted on 24 May 2012, 12:06 3 0
LMAO!!!
5. farhanmohdyousaf posted on 24 May 2012, 11:26 2 0
yayyy i hope it gets into smartphones before i decide to buy my next one :)
btw i have a technical question.. doesnt the charge time decrease if u use a higher voltage charger?
7. Sniggly posted on 24 May 2012, 11:32 2 0
I think it can. Car chargers usually charge faster, but at least the rule of thumb used to be that you should only use a car charger when necessary.
10. biophone posted on 24 May 2012, 11:38 2 0
Who really cares about the charge time anyway. A small price to pay for a larger battery.
13. GuiltyBystander posted on 24 May 2012, 11:48 2 0
Thankfully by the end of the year, we will have USB3 chargers so that should help with the charging times.
11. troutsy posted on 24 May 2012, 11:46 2 0
Charge time does get shorter, but battery life (in terms of number of recharge cycles) would be shorter and there would be much more heat generated on the phone.
The batteries I've worked with are obsolete technology now, but the sweet spot was to charge at a rate of 10% of the total capacity per hour to preserve maximum life. It's not the size of the battery that affects the charging time, but rather Motorola may have chosen to charge slower for better battery life or is using a carry-over charger that was intended to handle much smaller batteries.
22. DigitalBoy05 posted on 24 May 2012, 12:42 1 0
Thats genius if motorola is in fact making it take longer to charge to maintain a healthy battery. Its not like you can take the battery out on the maxx or razr if it craps out on you.
15. remixfa posted on 24 May 2012, 11:51 3 0
dont do that. voltages are set for a specific reason.. so you dont BLOW UP the device. higher voltage also = higher heat which can damage the device permanently. Also you are more likely to damage the battery.
If you use a car charger, only use it until its "almost" full. Car chargers never stop trying to cram juice into the phone, so if you leave it on there for too long you can quickly damage that battery. I've seen a brand new phone need a new battery in 3 weeks because the moron kept it on the car charger for 3 or 4 hrs worth of daily commute.
32. theruleslawyer posted on 25 May 2012, 00:12 0 0
No. You need a higher amperage charger. There is an upper limit though. Almost all lipo batteries can be charged very safely at a 1c rate. That's 1hr charge rate. Most can take 2c pretty easy. You can go even higher- I think about 5c is the limit for really good lipo without fire risk. The trouble becomes the heat that is generated. Most users would be very concerned about device temps at 2c rates.
19. steelicon posted on 24 May 2012, 12:22 2 2
Symbian Belle FP1 is the secret to longer battery life. ;-)
20. Captain_Doug posted on 24 May 2012, 12:23 2 0
I'd pay more for a battery that'd last me 3x longer as long as its in reason. A replacement battery costs like $15, I'd be okay to pay 3x that. I charge my phone like 2-3 times a day due to how much I use it. If I could make it a whole day or even 2 days, I can't even imagine.
31. theruleslawyer posted on 25 May 2012, 00:07 1 0
You know if this happens we'll end up with phones 3x as powerful and the same crappy battery life.
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