The concept of self-destructing technology takes the inherent consumption at the heart of consumer electronics and brings it to the forefront. There鈥檚 something many people find almost distasteful about tech that鈥檚聽designed to destroy itself 鈥� even if the timeline for that destruction is longer than the device could realistically last. Nonetheless, the idea of self-destructing technology is immediately applicable to problems of waste disposal, and further out than that, the ability to have a device or device component literally melt away could end up changing the abilities of a number of industries and even warfare. This week, researchers at Iowa State University got聽a lot closer to that goal with a new聽transient battery that could power self-destructing electronics.
Their achievement is important for two reasons. One, it increases the usefulness of self-destructing batteries by doubling their voltage to about 2.5 volts 鈥� more than the voltage of a AA or AAA battery. Two, this new battery dramatically decreases the time it takes to actually dissolve away, validating the concept from a pure practicality standpoint. If the technology is ever to succeed, it will need to be useful to the consumer while offering an accessible improvement when it comes time for cleanup. This battery is a step toward both goals.
So far, it can power a 鈥渄esktop calculator鈥� for about 15 minutes 鈥� and while that might not sound like the most impressive thing the world, a calculator is a real, useful device being powered by a battery that can simply disappear. More to the point, large and energy-hungry devices like a computer often include crucial, low-power bottlenecks to keep running properly. Right now, many such components run off main power or have little watch batteries powering them 鈥� these could one-day fall to 鈥渢ransient鈥澛燽atteries聽like this.
The battery is only about a millimeter thick, smaller than a postage stamp. Nano- and micro-particles of lithium salts and silver make up the battery鈥檚 version of electrodes, held in a water-soluble polymer. When exposed to water for just 30 minute, this breaks down and the micro-particles disburse. It鈥檚 surprising that there鈥檚 no mention of a cleanup process to precipitate this battery dust out of a sample of water; in its current form, you鈥檇 have a hard time selling the concept of washing your battery down the drain, or of dumping millions of these batteries straight into the oceans.
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