Paper Batteries

Ron61 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-08-2009, 06:40 AM

Wonder what the tree huggers will have to say about this if it turns out to be a big thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091207/..._battery_paper

Ron

Bill Bess · #2 (**permalink**) 12-08-2009, 06:45 AM

WOW ! those Huggie Bears better be careful what they use to wipe their behinds with...it could be shocking.

Dan40 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-08-2009, 08:56 AM

2 unlike metals in an acid solution is a battery. So a gum wrapper and a tooth filling in saliva will shock your whole head.

Battery technology must explore many directions to do all the tree huggers want from them. Even directions they don't like at all!!

Bobcat · #4 (**permalink**) 12-08-2009, 10:11 AM

Guess it might be beneficial to not confuse toilet paper with the new battery paper

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Gunner · #5 (**permalink**) 12-08-2009, 10:23 AM

This is literally ancient technology. Paper/foil batteries were hot stuff around 1800. Very low current capability but can last for unbelievable lengths of time - sealed systems ran for decades. One sealed electrical bell powered by two of these "dry piles" has been operating since 1840, so long that the bell-ringing ball is wearing away. There was never a use for low-current batteries so the technology faded away... but now that we have circuitry that runs on nanoamps, it might become useful.

Ronbo · #6 (**permalink**) 12-09-2009, 03:44 PM

Paper Capacitors (once commonplace) have thankfully gone the way of the tubes they were connected to. Any of you old farts that had that TV that after about 7~8yrs you couldn't keep tubes in were victoms of dried out wax/paper capacitors. Replaced my share of 6AU6's and 12AU7's back in the day...

Paper electrolytic caps are still around though. (I think what Gunner is actually referring to). These eventually dry out and fail as well. "Supercapacitors" are basically large value elecrolytics, typically in the 1+ farad range as opposed to microfarads. First wide use of these was VCR clock power backup.

"dry piles" are carbon batteries as I recall... (also referred to as a "carbon pile")

Gunner · #7 (**permalink**) 12-09-2009, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronbo

Paper electrolytic caps are still around though. (I think what Gunner is actually referring to).

No, these are actually chemical batteries that generate electricity from the chemical interaction of plates and electrolyte. The "electrolyte" is paper rubbed with manganese dioxide or a similar chemical. Their downfall is that the internal resistance is measured in megohms so the available current is a few microamps at most.

Here's a link to the best known example: 1840 Electric Bell Still Ringing... Note that that's a British "billion" - or a thousand times the US "billion." The bell has thus rung some 10,000 million times... and damn, no one's answered it yet.

Capacitors don't generate any electricity, just store whatever charge you apply until it's drained. Hmm, a 100,000 uF, 50V electrolytic... hee hee hee... CATCH!

Sharroll Celby · #8 (**permalink**) 12-09-2009, 05:32 PM

I just hope that I NEVER get dry piles!!! lol !!!