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Durian May Soon be The Best Battery for Electric Vehicles and Gadgets

Durian May Soon be The Best Battery for Electric Vehicles and Gadgets
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Believe it or not, there is a fruit by the name of Durian that is actually banned from being transported through cabs and taxis in several countries because of its terrible smell. That being said, the fruit has a commendable nutritional value and as per a recent study, might just be the best possible material for lightning-fast electric charging for gadgets and electric vehicles alike.

Termed as the world’s smelliest fruit, Durian was recently a part of a research conducted by Vincent G. Gomes, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, that looked at the possibility of extracting the fruit’s biowaste for ultra-quick and highly efficient electric chargers.

The new scientific paper co-authored by Gomes and published in the Journal of Energy Storage uses the fruit’s guts as an element for supercapacitors to store vast amounts of energy. For those not aware of this, supercapacitors are high capacity capacitors that are able to accept and deliver charge much faster than typical batteries and have a longer life than them too.

In his paper, Gomes specifically talks about using electrochemical supercapacitors or “electrical double layer capacitors.” Though much better than batteries, such supercapacitors are very costly to make. Gomes and his team now offers a solution to that through the organic waste generated from the fruit.

How does it work?
Gomes and his team synthesized a carbon aerogel (just like silica packets) from the pulp of the durian and the jackfruit. Being highly porous and having a high absorbing power, the aerogel, when used in supercapacitors, is able to store a high amount of energy.

Gomes explains in his paper, “The fibrous, fleshy portions of organic wastes with good mechanical stability were considered as candidate precursors compared to hard, dense ones. The waste fruit cores of durian (Durio zibethinus) and jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) were selected as candidates based on their structures and their prospect of intrinsic nitrogen doping.”

Integrated properties of the fruit like “high surface area, in-plane conductivity and interfacial active sites” further helped with the facilitation of “electrochemical reactions, ionic diffusion and high charge carrier density.” In short, faster charging and larger energy storage as compared to a traditional battery.

This is one of the novel ways in which supercapacitors are being used to replace batteries in gadgets and electric vehicles. A team of scientists recently used supercapacitors made of protein nanowires that can generate electricity out of moisture in the air. Know all about the one-of-its-kind invention here.

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Source: Indiatimes.com

Akhyari Hananto

I began my career in the banking industry in 1997, and stayed approx 6 years in it. This industry boost his knowledge about the economic condition in Indonesia, both macro and micro, and how to More understand it. My banking career continued in Yogyakarta when I joined in a program funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),as the coordinator for a program aimed to help improve the quality of learning and teaching process in private universities in Yogyakarta. When the earthquake stroke Yogyakarta, I chose to join an international NGO working in the area of ?disaster response and management, which allows me to help rebuild the city, as well as other disaster-stricken area in Indonesia. I went on to become the coordinator for emergency response in the Asia Pacific region. Then I was assigned for 1 year in Cambodia, as a country coordinator mostly to deliver developmental programs (water and sanitation, education, livelihood). In 2009, he continued his career as a protocol and HR officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya, and two years later I joined the Political and Economic Section until now, where i have to deal with extensive range of people and government officials, as well as private and government institution troughout eastern Indonesia. I am the founder and Editor-in-Chief in Good News From Indonesia (GNFI), a growing and influential social media movement, and was selected as one of The Most Influential Netizen 2011 by The Marketeers magazine. I also wrote a book on "Fundamentals of Disaster Management in 2007"?, "Good News From Indonesia : Beragam Prestasi Anak Bangsa di dunia"? which was luanched in August 2013, and "Indonesia Bersyukur"? which is launched in Sept 2013. In 2014, 3 books were released in which i was one of the writer; "Indonesia Pelangi Dunia"?, "Indonesia The Untold Stories"? and "Growing! Meretas Jalan Kejayaan" I give lectures to students in lectures nationwide, sharing on full range of issues, from economy, to diplomacy Less
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