Today the battery is the weakest smartphone, tablet and laptop. Its charge is only enough to ensure minimum acceptable autonomy, but the longevity of this productive tech devices and do not dream. But what if the screen gadgets can recharge their batteries and to give extra hours of life? While this is fiction, but thanks to graphene, it can become a reality.
As we know, Apple carefully defends patents all development and only intended to study direction. This policy allows us to always have a trump card in patent proceedings, but is driven out of the "secret underground laboratories' information about upcoming products. So, one of the latest Apple patent describes the transfer of graphene layer on a plastic or glass surface and mentions solar panels.
If it is very simplified (otherwise without special knowledge to understand it will be difficult), graphene can be represented as a single plane of graphite, separated from the bulk crystal. It is estimated that graphene has a high mechanical stiffness (100 times stronger than steel), a record high thermal conductivity, and unique optical properties. The high mobility of charge carriers (maximum electron mobility of all known materials) makes it a promising material for use in a variety of ways, in particular, as the basis of nanoelectronics and possible replacement of silicon in integrated circuits [ Wikipedia ].
In his report, MIT Technology Review says that graphene can be used in so-called "third-generation solar cells." Solar cells of graphene show much higher efficiency - a theoretical limit of 60% or more compared with the present 30%.
It would be naive to hope that in the coming updates iPhone and iPad displays will be installed with the integrated high-efficiency solar panels. But the direction is very promising, and work in laboratories Apple R & D is clearly underway. Perhaps one of these sounds after Prime reborn " One More thing ... "
[ patentlyapple ]
