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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.
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