Transport

Battery Technology Looks to an Essential Plastic: Polystyrene

New Scientist magazine reports that chemists have taught single molecules of polystyrene an impressive new trick - how to snatch and store energy from light in the way that plants do. Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, U.S., are working on a new breed of polystyrene-based battery, according to the magazine's July 15, 2000, issue. They say that because polystyrene derivatives are inexpensive, the batteries could be used to power anything from cars to cellular telephones. The project is part of continuing efforts at Los Alamos to find simple materials that can mimic the complex chemistry of photosynthesis, which allows plants to store energy from sunlight in chemical bonds.