Eesha Khare, an American high-school student of Indian origin has won $50,000 at the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award. Her invention? A device that can charge a cell phone in 20-30 seconds. Not only that, it will also result in batteries that can last for 10,000 recharge cycles rather than the traditional 1000 recharge cycles in todays’ cell phones.
The device, a supercapacitor, could mean an end to running low on battery power. Supercapacitors are storage devices that charge up very quickly and are capable of dispensing nearly 10 times the performance of conventional batteries. However, they are not widely used because they store less energy than normal batteries.
“The supercapacitor I have developed uses a special nanostructure, which allows for a lot greater energy per unit volume,” Eesha explained. During a demo, she showed off how it could power an LED light. In the future, the device could easily be used in roll-up phones or even car batteries.
Picture Credit : Google
