Hello, steemians today I want to continue with a series of posts that I have been publishing about a topic that excites me a lot like carbon nanotubes and everything related to nanotechnology. This time I would like to enter in the field of energy and more specifically to its different forms of storage. And it is that the storage of energy is becoming increasingly important for the consolidation of renewable energy. Therefore, advances in accumulation and storage technologies are continuous.

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But first, What is a carbon nanotube?

As explained in one of my previous posts Are carbon nanotubes the future of manufacturing?, carbon nanotubes are basically materials composed of carbon molecules that form a tube with an approximate size of one nanometer, that is, one trillionth of a meter.

It has a perfect geometric shape, composed of a network of hexagons that remind us of bee panels. It is therefore that its structure favors the movement of energy and gives it a high conductivity. Also, although they have the thickness of 1 atom, these tubes have an enormous resistance and a great capacity of self-regeneration in addition to other electrical and mechanical properties that make them perfect for almost any type of applications.

How nanotubes work for energy storage?

The battery of carbon nanotubes stores solar energy in the bonds of its molecular structure when it receives sunlight. Then, when it receives an external stimulus (a catalyst, a small temperature change, a flash of light, etc.) the structure quickly returns to its original form, releasing the stored energy in the form of heat.

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It is capable of recharging itself in a matter of seconds due to its structure in the form of a network, which imitates the molecular network of a battery.

Unfortunately, there is currently no simple way to perform this conversion, or at least not one that is small, secure and mobile, so that the practical applications of this invention can be limited for some time to systems intended to store energy during periods of time long

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Advantages compared to other storage modes.

Conventional batteries store energy by oxidation-reduction chemical reactions. What makes these batteries have a large storage capacity, but at the same time the chemical components degrade with the cycles of loading and unloading and, generally, are scarce and expensive elements.

However, carbon nanotube batteries are capable of converting and storing energy in a single step. They can self-charge themselves and get to store energy indefinitely.

Likewise, they can withstand abrupt changes of temperature, vibrations, and blows that their properties are coupled to any type of change.

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Future perspectives.

MIT researchers have been studying the combination of carbon nanotubes with a compound called azobenzene, improving the design. This new prototype presents unprecedented properties since azobenzene provides an energy density up to 10 thousand times greater than batteries with other compounds and is cheaper and easier to produce.

According to MIT scientists, carbon nanotube batteries could replace conventional batteries and, if advances continue, they are expected to be on the market within 5 or 10 years.

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In conclusion.

This if not another reliable evidence that nanotechnology could be in the not so distant future be responsible for establishing a new mandate in terms of energy storage.

References.

• http://web.mit.edu/erc/spotlights/ultracapacitor.html
• http://news.mit.edu/2011/update-energy-storage-0713
• https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=35193.php
• Carbon nanotubes, Silvana Fiorito