The Super Supercapacitor

[PL1]

While looking for better ways to produce Graphene article here, scientists accidently discover that they can replace batteries that use toxic substances with the non-toxic, rapid-charging, high energy density carbon polymer.

Kaner Lab researcher Maher El-Kady found a way to create sheets of graphene a single carbon atom thick by covering a plastic surface with graphite oxide solution and bombarding it with precisely controlled laser light.

Translation:

He painted a DVD with a liquid carbon solution and stuck it into a standard-issue DVD burner.

Scott

[DaOld Man]

Interesting.

[stan2323]

I can see the potential.

[RandyT]

I like the parts where he calls an LED a "light bulb" and they throw a plastic substrate in the compost bin 

Seriously, though, Supercapicitors are a time bomb compared to a standard battery.  Perhaps not much more so than Lithium Ion technology, but certainly more than a device which produces energy "on-demand" through a chemical reaction.  Capacitors are a holding device for the entire amount of energy capable of being delivered, which, in the case of malfunction, can be let go all at once with disastrous results.  If you have ever seen a stun gun, or watched small capacitors explode with the ferocity of a firecracker, you know what capacitors are capable of.

This does have some advantage over Lithium Ion as far as environmental, speed of charging and perhaps cost concerns, but I'm not sure it's safer.  I think just the opposite, actually.