Warrakkk
12-24-2007, 03:37 PM
Sounds like a pipe-dream, doesn't it? Well, according to scientists at Standford, the use of nanotube technology would allow Li-ion cells to have 10 times the runtime of current technology. The example give in article (http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/nanowire-010908.html) suggests laptops with 20 hour runtimes, but it goes so much deeper than that. One of the scientists, Yi Cui, says "It's not a small improvement. It's a revolutionary development."
I now ask you, the E-people of the RC world - what would this do for the RC market? When this technology is released, will ESCs and motors be able to keep up with 2 hours of constant bashing? And - what would this do to the nitro market? Would it be buried?
WARNING: Scientific content!
How does nanotubes affect the capacity of a Li-ion cell? Well, the capacity depends on the ability of the anode of a battery to absorb lithium ions. The anode is traditionally made of carbon. Silicon (no, not silicone, which goes in your diffs :) ) can hold much more lithium than carbon, but it's also less resilient and becomes brittle with use, since the absorption of lithium causes the silicon to "swell" (no jokes about silicone and swelling, please... :) ). The repeated swelling and shrinking of the silicone particles or film will eventually cause it to fracture, thus diminishing the capacity of the cell.
This is where nanotubes come in. Instead of a powder or film, the silicon can be arranged in a sort of "forest" of nano "trees" or tubes, each the thickness of 1/1000th that of a sheet of paper. These tubes allows the silicon to absorb much more lithium than the current technology, and what's more - the nanotubes won't get brittle and deteriorate.
I now ask you, the E-people of the RC world - what would this do for the RC market? When this technology is released, will ESCs and motors be able to keep up with 2 hours of constant bashing? And - what would this do to the nitro market? Would it be buried?
WARNING: Scientific content!
How does nanotubes affect the capacity of a Li-ion cell? Well, the capacity depends on the ability of the anode of a battery to absorb lithium ions. The anode is traditionally made of carbon. Silicon (no, not silicone, which goes in your diffs :) ) can hold much more lithium than carbon, but it's also less resilient and becomes brittle with use, since the absorption of lithium causes the silicon to "swell" (no jokes about silicone and swelling, please... :) ). The repeated swelling and shrinking of the silicone particles or film will eventually cause it to fracture, thus diminishing the capacity of the cell.
This is where nanotubes come in. Instead of a powder or film, the silicon can be arranged in a sort of "forest" of nano "trees" or tubes, each the thickness of 1/1000th that of a sheet of paper. These tubes allows the silicon to absorb much more lithium than the current technology, and what's more - the nanotubes won't get brittle and deteriorate.