People could soon use energy storage devices created from trees toprovide longer battery life for the smartwatch in hybrid cars. The innovation could lead to the production of devices, portable power supplies and hybrid and electric vehicles with more efficient and longer-lasting energy storage, engineers say.

The organic compound, called cellulose, which are commonly found in plants, trees, bacteria and algae, are used by scientists to develop the new energy storage devices. Scientists found that cellulose can be used for various advanced applications due to its high strength and flexibility.

Canadian engineering researchers Emily Cranston, an assistant chemical engineering professor at McMaster University, and Igor Zhitomirsky, a materials science and engineering professor, built an enhanced three-dimensional energy storage device from a nanocellulose foam, called cellulose nanocrystals. The material appears to be resemble an uncooked long-grain rice, produced in a simple and fast one-step process.

The “rice grains” were glued together to form a mesh-like structure with open spaces for the new devices. The scientists used the extremely lightweight nature of the material to create more sustainable capacitor devices that can work with higher power density and faster charging abilities compared with the current rechargeable batteries.

"Ultimately the goal of this research is to find ways to power current and future technology with efficiency and in a sustainable way," Cranston said. The innovation could lead future technology to rely on more environment-friendly materials as opposed to depleting resources, she added.

Lightweight and high-power density capacitors aid the development of hybrid and electric vehicles, and fast-charging devices would allow significant energy saving as it could collect energy while braking and releasing it upon acceleration.

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