New smartphone battery can charge in just 30 seconds

Demonstrated for the first time at Microsoft's Think Next symposium on Monday, the battery uses something called nanodots and is the brainchild of Israeli company StoreDot.

Demonstrated for the first time at Microsoft's Think Next symposium on Monday, the battery uses something called nanodots and is the brainchild of Israeli company StoreDot.

But as well as smartphones, the revolutionary cell could be used in a host of other devices from tablets to cameras and beyond.

Described by its makers as cost-effective and environmentally friendly, a nanodot battery uses bio-organic materials that boost electrode capacity and electrolyte performance. The bio-organic materials in question are peptide molecules that form short chains of amino acids (if you remember biology class that is how proteins are made) and this is key.

Until now, creating fast-charging batteries along the same scientific principles required using heavy metals such as cadmium which are both toxic and expensive.

The result is a safer, easier to mass-produce battery that is fully charged in minutes instead of hours but which, once charged, behaves like a typical lithium ion cell in the way that it holds and depletes its charge.

The technology behind the battery is so new that StoreDot is still in the process of patenting it. However, the company is aiming to go into mass production within the next two years with an eye on the electric car market as well as on consumer electronics.

If the technology can charge a car battery in a minute or so, its impact on greener motoring will be hard to quantify. But for that to happen, the company will have to ensure that it can create batteries that can support multiple chains of these amino acids and that can hold a higher charge.

'The fast-charge battery is the result of our focus on commercializing the materials we have discovered. We're particularly pleased that this innovative nanotechnology, inspired by nature, not only changes the rules of mobile device capabilities, but is also environmentally-friendly,' said Dr. Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot.