Mobile batteries set to improve ten-fold

A French research team is developing new nanotech which will hopefully improve the efficiency and battery-life of mobile phones and mobile computers ten-fold.

The Swiss team at The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne is aiming to develop new nanotech as part of a project called 'Steeper' which will also allow computers and gadgets on stand-by to consumer almost zero energy.

Eco-bonus!

The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne's Adrian Ionescu said the plan was to use the latest nanoscience and nanowires to close up leaky transistors, noting the "vision is to share this research to enable manufacturers to build the holy grail in electronics, a computer that utilizes negligible energy when it's in sleep mode, which we call the zero-watt PC."

The US spends $4 billion each year on lost electricity, according to the Department of Energy.

The Steeper project hopes to make the millions of wasteful gadgets and phones and computers across the world a thing of the past within the next decade.

Steep slope transistors are so-called because of the abrupt changes they make when switching between on and off, compared to today's 'leakier' transistors, which are incredibly inefficient in stand-by mode.

The European Commission's Joint Research Center notes that around 10 per cent of all energy used in European homes and offices is used by appliances on stand-by.

Via BBC News