The necessity of charging a cell phone has become one of life’s minor inconveniences, like subway delays or getting invites to DJ nights. StoreDot, an Israeli start-up, has found a way to fix this inconvenience with a new battery and charging combo that can fully fuel a Galaxy S4 in 30 seconds.
The company, which came out of Tel Aviv University’s nanotechnology department, demoed its new battery on a Galaxy S4 at Microsoft’s Think Next Conference. The company says it’s “not quite there yet” and we have to wait for warp speed charging on our phones until 2016, but the technology is promising.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the company’s technology is different from the lithium-ion batteries that power most electronics. It is based on biological semiconductors, which are made from naturally organic compounds called peptides. In the human body, peptides perform hormonal activities and signaling functions.
“In essence, what we have developed is a new generation of an electrode with new materials – we call it MFE – Multi Function Electrode. One side acts like a Supercapacitor (very fast charging), and the other is like a Lithium electrode (slow discharge). The electrolyte is modified as well with our nanobots in order to allow for the multifunction electrode to be effective …. we are aiming for the same capacity as a Li=on battery … Self discharge is similar to Li-ion as well,” said StoreDot CEO Doron Myersdorf in an interview with The Next Web.
StoreDot claims that its phone charger can prolong the existence of your battery pack because it can “withstand thousands of charge/discharge cycles, prolonging battery life considerably.”
Currently, the phone charger is about the size of a laptop charger, but the company is confident that it can reduce its size. When it does come out, it could cost about $30.
If you want to see the charger in action, check out StoreDot’s demo video below.