Teen's Invention Could Create 20-Second Phone Charge


Tech manufacturers that boast how fast their devices can juice up might want to listen up: A California teen has developed a super-capacitor that could lead to a 20- to 30-second phone charge.

Super-capacitors are energy-storage devices that have a long cycle life, and have the potential to store a lot of energy per unit volume. Sounds dandy, right? Not quite. The devices have limited use because they store less energy than batteries. But Eesha Khare, 18, of Saratoga, Calif. has made quite an advancement with this technology.

"The super-capacitor I have developed uses a special nanostructure, which allows for a lot greater energy per unit volume," Khare said in a video interview at last week's 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix. The world's largest science fair brought together 1,600 high-school finalists from all over the world, who competed for more than $4 million in awards.

"It can charge very quickly, and it can last for 10,000 cycles, compared to batteries which are only like 1,000 cycles," added Khare, a student at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, Calif.

Imagine this: If this sort of technology replaces conventional batteries, our gadgets could someday spend much less time plugged in, as demonstrated by Khare's test with an LED light.

"After charging my super-capacitor for 20 seconds, I was able to light an LED device," she said. "Just seeing that LED light was my signal that I know what I'm doing, and this is truly applicable to the real world."

A phone could be fully charged in 20 to 30 seconds since Khare's tiny device fits inside cell-phone batteries. This sort of advancement in energy storage could also be applied to laptops and electric vehicles, among other devices.

As part of Intel's competition, Khare won a $50,000 Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award (pictured above, far left). After receiving the award, Khare said she wants to "just keep making a lot of scientific advancements."

Khare, who reportedly has already generated interest from Google, will be attending Harvard University this fall, according to San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX.

Other high-school participants in last week's Intel fair that Mashable has featured include Brittany Wenger, who developed a computer algorithm to diagnose leukemia, and Justin Krell, who invented a concussion-detection prototype for car accidents.

Images courtesy of Intel

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