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Comprised of a lone hexagonal honeycomb lattice layer of tightly packed carbon atoms, graphene is one of the strongest, lightest, and most conductive compounds ever discovered. Bottom line, it's an extraordinary composite. However, a scientist from New York's Clarkson University says he's found a way to manufacture hemp waste into a material "better than graphene." Moreover, the scientist -- known to his peers as Dr. David Mitlin -- says creating this graphene-like hemp material costs but a minuscule fraction of what it takes to produce graphene. Presented at an American Chemical Society Meeting in San Francisco, Dr. Mitlin described how...

As hemp makes a comeback in the U.S. after a decades-long ban on its cultivation, scientists are reporting that fibers from the plant can pack as much energy and power as graphene, long-touted as the model material for supercapacitors, according to David Mitlin, Ph.D. Supercapacitors are energy storage devices that have huge potential to transform the way future electronics are powered. Unlike today’s rechargeable batteries, which sip up energy over several hours, supercapacitors can charge and discharge within seconds. But they normally can’t store nearly as much energy as batteries, an important property known as energy density. One approach researchers...

Flexible battery is paper-thin Last Updated: 12:01pm BST 14/08/2007 Paper and nanotechnology combine to create a new kind of battery, reports Roger HighfieldWhat looks to the untrained eye like thick, black paper is a novel flexible battery that could offer new opportunities for tomorrow's gadgets, from self propelling paper planes to smart pockets that can recharge a mobile phone.   The new nanocomposite paper developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Along with its ability to work in temperatures up to 150ºC (300ºF) and down to -70ºC (-100ºF), the battery can be printed like paper, rolled, twisted or folded, and even...

Startup Seeo has developed batteries that store far more energy than conventional ones, which could extend the range of electric cars. An experimental lithium-ion battery based on materials developed at a U.S. Department of Energy lab stores twice as much energy as the batteries used in most electric cars. If the technology can be commercialized, it could give affordable electric cars a range of over 200 miles per charge, says Hal Zarem, CEO of Seeo, a startup that’s working on the technology. Today the cheapest electric cars, which cost around $30,000, typically have a range of less than 100 miles....