Australian researchers have developed and successfully tested a functioning quantum battery for the first time. The technology can store energy much faster than conventional batteries and could fundamentally change the energy supply of the future.
Since electricity from renewable sources such as sun and wind is subject to strong fluctuations, the topic of energy storage is becoming increasingly important. A climate-friendly energy supply can only be established reliably if excess energy can be stored and released again when needed.
Quantum batteries could play an important role in this in the future because they can absorb and release energy particularly quickly. This could be of great advantage, especially if there are strong fluctuations in electricity generation.
Australian researchers have now succeeded in developing and testing the world’s first quantum battery. They believe this technology could pave the way for super-fast charging of devices in the future.
Can quantum batteries revolutionize energy supply?
Quantum batteries are based – as their name suggests – on the laws of quantum physics. They do not store energy chemically like conventional batteries, but rather use quantum mechanical effects.
This concept has been intensively researched since the 2010s and was first proposed as a theoretical concept in 2013. Scientists in Australia say they have now succeeded in making significant progress in this area with their research results.
For the study in the specialist magazine Nature Light: Science & Applications was published, researchers from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) collaborated. They are convinced that their development will “fundamentally change the way we store and use energy in the future.”
“The advantage of quantum technology is that the system absorbs light in a single, extreme ‘superabsorption event’, charging the battery significantly faster,” explains co-author and Associate Professor James Hutchison from the University of Melbourne.
The present prototype is the first of its kind that “goes through a complete battery cycle: you charge it, store energy and can discharge it again,” explains lead author Dr. James Quach from the CSIRO told the Guardian.
Quantum battery could take fast charging to a new level
According to Quach, conventional batteries take a longer time to charge depending on their size: “That’s why it takes about 30 minutes to charge your cell phone and overnight to charge your electric car.”
The quantum battery, on the other hand, has a special property in this context: “The larger they are, the faster they charge,” says the researcher. This is where the so-called “collective effects” come into play, meaning that quantum cells charge faster when more cells are involved.
The researchers managed to charge their prototype in femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a second). The energy was then stored for nanoseconds. According to Quach, this represents a performance equivalent to a battery taking a minute to charge and then “staying charged for a few years.”
However, the current prototype only has a capacity of a few billion electron volts. According to Quach, this is “very low” and not enough to do anything useful with it.”
As a next step, he and his team now want to work on extending the storage period. “Once the technology matures, you wouldn’t have to stop at a gas station to charge your car; you could charge it on the go,” Quach said.
Also interesting: