UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, ILLINOIS, USA. In a modern world where life is defined depending on your battery’s capacity, a group of researchers were able to develop a new type of lithium-ion battery. Unlike earlier versions of the lithium-ion batteries that we got used to, this new technology can give out 2,000 times more power. It is certainly something that anyone of us would need in order to survive a few weeks in this modern world without a single recharge. It is not just an exciting new discovery but a breakthrough in battery technology which is a very important factor in many ways.

The current type of lithium-ion batteries that we have can only do so much for us due to the increasing demand in technology usage. You can either have lots of power in watts or lots of energy in watt-hours. However, you cannot have both at the same time. Most modern applications such as portable computers, smartphones and even electric vehicles would need massive amounts of power and energy to work.

Right now, lithium-ion batteries are considered as the best solution for high-power-and-energy applications. Of course, even the best lithium-ion batteries have serious trade-offs in different devices. It is simply put as “you cannot have the best of both”.

Things are quite different with the recently developed lithium-ion battery in the University of Illinois. As compared to a supercapacitor, this new type of battery has a higher power density while having the same energy density as the current nickel-zinc and lithium-ion batteries available in the market.

Led by William P. King, the Bliss Professor of mechanical science and engineering, the researchers behind this super battery also claim that it could actually allow for wireless devices to transmit their signals 30 times farther while being at 30 times smaller than the usual type of batteries that we normally use. The best part about this new battery is that it is rechargeable. Not only that, it can be charged 1,000 times faster than the conventional lithium-ion batteries that we know. It is practically the only battery you will ever need.