Quantum Nanobattery That Doesn’t Lose Its Charge

A new quantum nanobattery is designed in a way that it should be pretty much immune to the effects of its surroundings.

Image by Ricarda Mölck from Pixabay

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Electronics and batteries nowadays are tied together. The vast majority of people will know lithium-ion batteries that use classical electrochemical principles. We are very glad we have them as they allowed us to start using pocket-sized electronics but at the same time, we can’t say they are ideal. That is why many experts are constantly searching for new battery designs.

A Canadian team from the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto recently developed a design of a new quantum battery that should not lose its charge. The research lead – chemist Gabriel Hanna from the University of Alberta says that it is a tiny nanobattery which should find its place at exactly those scale – nanoscales.

According to Hanna, their research theoretically confirms that it is possible to create a quantum battery that will not lose electrical charge. This would provide their design with a huge advantage compared to previously designed quantum batteries. Such a battery could one day be a key component of many quantum devices. Another big benefit of the battery is that it seems it should be possible to make it with current technologies that work with nanomaterials.

Hann’s team used a model of an opened quantum network with high structural symmetry in their study. The model was then used as a platform for storing exciton binding energy. This energy can be gained when an electron absorbs an energetic photon. With the already mentioned model, the scientists showed that it is theoretically possible to store energy without any loses even if the system is opened to the surrounding environment.

The key to success is a quantum network in a so-called dark state. In this state, the electrons are in a coherent superposition which prevents them from absorbing and emitting radiation. Thus the quantum battery is incapable of exchanging energy with its surroundings de facto becoming immune to its effects. Such a battery would be highly durable against spontaneous loses of any energy. If you wanted to get energy out of such battery you would need to disrupt the structural symmetry of the quantum network.

Sources:

• https://phys.org/news/2019-10-blueprint-quantum-battery-doesnt.html
• https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b06373

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