Learn How Durians Can Help to Power Your iPhone
Anthony Bourdain once suggested your breath will smell as if you’ve been french kissing your dead grandmother. It’s also been used in Fear Factor to send some of the most determined challengers home. But now, durians could be a key ingredient to lightning-fast charging for your iPhone.
According to researchers from the University of Sydney, the durian and its cousin, the jackfruit, have qualities that allow for the storage of massive amounts of energy. Published earlier this year in the Journal of Energy Storage, Associate Professor Vincent Gomes identifies methods for extracting durian and jackfruit biowaste for more efficient electric chargers.
Durians and jackfruits in supercapacitors
A supercapacitor has two plates that are separated. These plates are made from metal coated with a porous substance such as powdery, activated charcoal, which effectively gives them a bigger area for storing much more charge.
According to Popular Mechanics, the absorbent power of powdery charcoal enables supercapacitors to store more energy. Therefore, it makes sense for a carbon-containing biomatter like the flesh of highly porous fruits such as the durian, to make a great addition to the supercapacitor.
Additionally, the researchers also managed to create a carbon aerogel from the durians – the silica packets found in food packaging and shoe boxes to keep moisture away – helps provide the supercapacitor with enough power to charge electronics, such as portable medical devices, batteries, transport vehicles, and yes, your phone.
Gomes also believes that if the process is adopted by many, it would make a huge difference for the environment, as reusing food waste can go a long way to reducing environmental pollution. However, one major question remains for this prickly subject, can you save the environment at the price of your nose?
