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As Apple struggles with battery problems following the release of their new OS, scientists in the USA claim that batteries for phones and laptops could soon recharge ten times faster and hold a charge ten times larger than existing technology.
The new process which involves poking millions of minuscule pin prick holes in the battery is being worked on by scientists at Northwestern University in the US who have changed the materials in lithium-ion batteries in an effort to get better productivity.
The new technology could be available within four years.
A mobile phone battery built using the Northwestern techniques would charge from flat in 15 minutes and last a week before needing a recharge.
The density and movement of lithium ions are key to the process.
Dr Harold Kung and his team at Northwestern said they have found a way to cram more of the ions in and to speed up their movement by altering the materials used to manufacture a battery.
The maximum charge has been boosted by replacing sheets of silicon with tiny clusters of the substance to increase the amount of lithium ions a battery can hold on to.
The recharging speed has been accelerated using a chemical oxidation process which drills small holes – just 20-40 nanometers wide – in the atom-thick sheets of graphene that batteries are made of.
