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recharge. If those projects are successful, there are many other possible application areas. For instance, mobile phones will be as slim as credit cards and laptops will manage longer without needing to be recharged. The composite materials being developed, which are made of carbon fibres and a polymer resin, will store and discharge large amounts of energy much more quickly than conventional batteries. In addition, the material does not use chemical processes, which makes it quicker to recharge than conventional batteries. Furthermore, this recharging process causes little degradation in the composite material, because it does not involve a chemical reaction, whereas conventional batteries degrade over time. It is worth remembering that among the foremost challenges in the development of hybrids and electric cars are the size, weight, (toxicity) and cost of the current generation of batteries. In order to deliver sufficient capacity using today’s technology, it is necessary to fit large batteries, which in turn exceedingly increases the car’s weight. But when thinking of lightness one thinks about flying, and a solar plane that can flight at night seems to be sci-fi [18]. The Solar Impulse aircraft, Nanotechnology: Engines On
which is powered only by solar energy, triumphantly completed its first night flight. The ultralight aircraft was airborne for a total of 26 hours — from 7 am on July 7 until 9 am the following day (Central European Time) — before finally landing as planned at Payerne airbase in Switzerland. This aircraft is now officially the first manned aircraft capable of flying day and night without fuel, powered entirely by solar energy. The latest cutting-edge technology has been incorporated into this prototype airplane, which has the wingspan of a large airliner (63.40 meters) and the weight of a midsize car (1.600 kilograms). Some 12,000 solar cells cover its surface to run four electrical engines and store the solar energy for the night in 400 kilograms of lithium batteries. As was the case with instant soup and Teflon, which were developed as sidelines from the Apollo project, making things fly has important technological consequences. Thus, other potential derivatives from the Solar Impulse project include innovative adhesives, rigid polyurethane foams for paneling in the cockpit and engine, and extremely thin yet breakresistant polycarbonate films and sheets, in which carbon nanotubes and structural control at the nanoscale are paramount.
nanowiki.info