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"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere"-Carl Sagan.

By simply painting a special black ink on ordinary copier paper, scientists have recently found a way to create a paper battery that could transform the technological landscape.

The potential of paper batteries is only limited by our imagination. These inexpensive, lightweight batteries could be used to store the energy of the sun for use on days when the sun is not shining, and the energy of the wind for days when it is not blowing. They can also be used to store electricity late at night when it is cheap, and deliver it at peak usage times when it is expensive and in short supply.

Perhaps even more exciting are their potential uses in transport. Because the current cost of batteries for electric and hybrid cars is extremely high and their storage capacity is limited, paper batteries could well be the answer that electric car manufactures have been looking for. In the more distant future paper battery powered aeroplanes and boats are even a possibility, and these devices will also certainly have many exciting applications in the aerospace industry.

Because of their biocompatibility these lightweight batteries could also power devices in the bodies of humans and animals, including heart pacemakers, RFID tags and drug delivery systems. They could also be very useful for portable consumer electronic devices, and one day soon, you might even receive a parcel with wrapping paper that lights up saying "Happy Birthday!"

The secret to the creation of paper batteries are the carbon nanotubes that give the ink its black color. Through nanotechnology scientists are able to manipulate matter at the molecular level, and the highly conductive carbon nanotubes that they have created, are extremely thin cylinders with a diameter of about 1/50,000th of that of a human hair.

At the nano level paper consists of a tangled matrix of cellulose fibres. These highly porous fibres serve as an ideal scaffold for a network of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires that are absorbed from the black ink. After adding an electrolyte solution to the paper and drying it, the result is an ultrathin, completely flexible storage device that can be folded, rolled, twisted, or crumpled without loss of integrity or efficiency. Because of their flexibility, these batteries can be molded to the shape of any device they are intended to power. To reduce their storage capacity, the paper can simply be cut. To boost their total output, several sheets of this conductive paper can be stacked on top of each other.

Unlike alkaline batteries which consist of several separate components, the components of a paper battery are totally integrated at a molecular level, resulting in a very durable device that can be charged much faster than a lithium battery, and can retain its charge for many years. They can also be recharged tens of thousands of times.

Paper batteries can serve as both a high-energy storage battery and a supercapacitor. This combination, which is separate in traditional electronic devices, allows the battery to provide both long-term steady power production, as well as the rapid bursts of high energy required for starting engines.

Batteries that power our flashlights, computers, mobile phones and toys are a major source of pollution. According to the Hamilton Institute there are 15 billion batteries in landfills worldwide. When the battery casing corrodes highly toxic heavy metals like mercury and cadmium can leak out and pollute the groundwater and soil. Biodegradable, non-toxic paper batteries will not contribute to this problem.

Peter Tompkins writes about energy and water heaters. His newest website is at http://www.thebesttanklesswaterheater.net

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