A low cost and safe alternative has been discovered by scientists by adding water to lithium ion batteries. Aqueous lithium ion batteries are inexpensive to manufacture and less dangerous when compared to standard lithium ion batteries. By eliminating oxygen in the lithium-sulfate and water electrolyte solution, the batteries’ capacity has increased, but for small capacities.

The aqueous lithium ion battery can only retain 50% of its charge after 100 charge / discharge cycles, which isn’t acceptable with laptops, digital cameras and other electronic devices. By leaving the pH alone, removing as much oxygen as possible from the battery, and using carbon coated electrodes the batteries’ capacity retention increased to 90% after over 1000 cycles.  The only problem is the aqueous lithium ion battery provided power that lasted 10 minutes, whereas the same type of lithium ion battery lasted 8 hours.

The Aqueous lithium ion battery may not be the right solution for laptops, but might come in handy for devices with short term use, utilizing solar panels and other forms of recharging.

Safer lithium ion batteries: add water, lose the oxygen.

Digital Cameras are very good at draining batteries very quickly. Most photographers carry multiple spare batteries on hand while doing a photo shoot. Weng Jie at Yanko Designs might have a solution with his new digital camera solar strap that is capable of recharging batteries for the digital camera. Most digital cameras are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and need to be recharged after every use.

A storage battery is built into each end of the strap and recharges batteries. The solar strap does not charge batteries while inside the camera and would require modification of the digital camera to accept this type of charging. Certain cameras also carry custom sized batteries and would need adapters for the strap. We could definitely see AA batteries charging with the solar strap, as some digital cameras come standard using AA Li-ion or AA Ni-MH batteries.

Digital Camera Solar Strap Design Description: 

Source: http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/06/25/power-around-my-neck/

Nokia has a new gadget out that is capable of recharging your cell phone while you ride your bicycle. The cell phone will begin to recharge once you start to cycle past 3.75 MPH. If you increase your cycling speeds past 7.5 MPH it can charge as much as your conventional wall socket. The Nokia cell phone charger uses a 2mm pin-jack. What a great charging accessory to have for your cell phone if you spend a lot of time cycling to work or on the weekends. Not only is this eco friendly, but can be considered a safety precaution if you get stranded in the middle of nowhere from a flat tire or injury. It's always nice to have that extra power for your cell phone to make a call, or just listen to music while you cycle. Just remember to remove your cell phone when you lock up your bike in a public location.

Reference: http://gizmodo.com/5554396/cycle-your-way-to-infinite-cellphone-battery-life-with-nokias-charger