Are We Approaching The End Of The Age Of The Internal Combustion Engine Thanks To Nanotechnology?

Originally published on The Nano Newswire

Drive on any American highway for about a half hour and you are guaranteed to see at least one hybrid electric vehicle (chances are it is a Toyota Prius). Now you can purchase an electric vehicle, such as a Chevrolet Volt, that will run exclusively on electric power. However, the majority of such vehicles include a gas powered auxiliary system to permit extended range and a back up should you run out of electric charge. How long until we have a viable rechargeable battery for automobiles that will permit us to completely end the use of the internal combustion engine? Probably not as long as you might think, thanks to nanotechnology.

Using various chemical nanotechnological processes, researchers are making advances in improving the two most crucial aspects of rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles that are necessary to make the technology a viable alternative to gasoline powered vehicles. Those two crucial aspects are the amount of charge a battery can hold (i.e., the amount of distance an electric car can travel on a single charge) and the amount of time it takes to fully recharge the battery. Only by improving these two characteristics of electric vehicle rechargeable batteries, the lifeblood of an electric vehicle, can we completely shed our reliance on the internal combustion engine. When a electric vehicle can travel 200 to 300 miles on a single charge and take approximately ten to fifteen minutes to fully recharge, then we will have no need to use gasoline powered vehicles. gas.

Imagine pulling up to a building that looks like a gas station, but instead of pumps that dispense gasoline there are charging stations. It sounds like science fiction, but it is not as far off as you might think. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have already contemplated a theoretical approach to rechargeable batteries using nanotechnology that can charge a lithium-ion battery to 90 percent in only two minutes.

Looking foward to no longer inhaling gasoline fumes at the gas pumps? We all are, and we all anticipate a cleaner and healthier environment without carbon fuel emissions thanks, in part, to nanotechnology innovations like these.

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