Teen Invents Super Capacitor That Could Charge Your Cellphone in Seconds

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Posted May 21, 2013 at 5:24pm by Shalom Levytam

An 18-year-old from Saratoga, California could make waiting for your cell phone to charge a thing of the past. The teenager, Eesha Khare, has invented a so-called "super capacitor" that can pack a lot of energy into a very small space.

Additionally, it can still hold a charge for a long time, and lasts around 10,000 charge-recharge cycles. Most rechargeable batteries today can only last about 1000 cycles before they need to be replaced. The tiny device could fit inside cellphones, delivering a full charge in under a minute. The device even has the potential for applications in car batteries as well.

Khare showed off her device powering a LED at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The project won her the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award, and $50,000.

“With this money I will be able to pay for my college and also work on making scientific advancements,” Khare told the audience after winning the prize.

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Thoune - May 22, 2013 at 12:14am

She could have sold directly to the Intel company to get millions of dollars.

Kdee - May 21, 2013 at 10:27pm

hope this will come to market soon ;)

Mero - May 21, 2013 at 9:29pm

Did she make this or just take the concept and use it for her science project? Is that the battery itself or that tiny thing would charge the battery?

sidewinder - May 25, 2013 at 8:35pm

(1) They said she invented it. (2) Batteries utilize chemical reactions to convert energy to and from electricity depending on if the battery is charging or being used to run a device. capacitors actually store electricity and no conversion to another form of energy is needed so they can charge very quickly. That's my understanding and if correct then it follows that a capacitor and battery serve similar functions, however currently chemical batteries are more efficient per unit volume. ie Capacitors comparable to AA batteries would be at least twice the size to store the same energy.

Macer - May 21, 2013 at 7:05pm

Technology always improving over years, except that freaking battery. No matter how good the gadgets we get, battery isn't advanced enough to keep up with the technology, great news and hopefully batterys of the can hold the damn charge for days

Guest - May 21, 2013 at 6:44pm

Steve jobs would of hired her.

Milkman - May 23, 2013 at 5:40am

Nah.. apple will just go ahead and patent it anyway and sue her and and anyone else that has a similar idea. It's really sad.

SirSabatoge - May 21, 2013 at 6:43pm

Sell that for like billions or put it on the market....

08f4b96 - May 21, 2013 at 6:04pm

Bravo!!!! Way to go girl. You make your people (Indians) proud. Indians are among the hardest-working and most intelligent races of mankind. Make sure you become a billionaire for this invention. Don't let them use it for their gain. Follow Apple, run to patent office and get your name on it.

NoGoodNick - May 21, 2013 at 5:48pm

Good for her, but I hope she makes more off her invention than a mere $50,000, though I suspect some company will pay her another $50,000 for her 'college expenses' in exchange for the rights to it instead of giving her a legitimate commission on it!

NoGoodNick - May 22, 2013 at 7:24am

Yes sir. You are right. I apologize