NEC unveils razor-slim cutting-edge 'green' mobile battery

NEC unveils razor-slim cutting-edge 'green' mobile battery

Japan's electronics giant NEC created quite a flutter in the world of mobile telephony on Wednesday by announcing the successful development of its flexible, eco-friendly, ultra-slim battery, which the company claims gets fully recharged in well under a minute.

The battery, which seems like a piece of paper at a glance, carries the title ORB, which stands for "Organic Radical Battery" and to begin with it NEC intends to use it in devices like smartcards and "intelligent paper." ORB has a thickness of 0.3 mm and owes its name to the organic radical polymer that it is made of.

In simpler terms, the organic radical polymer is a special kind of plastic that can exist in an electrolyte-permeated gel state rendering the ORB extremely flexible. As if that wasn't enough, in ORB, the chemical reactions that occur during recharging, do so at a very rapid pace, leading to a never-seen-before charge turnaround time of less than 30 seconds. In addition, the battery packs quite a punch with a high energy density of about 1 mWh/sq cm.

The fact that the battery does not contain any environmentally-harmful metals like mercury, lead or cadmium is sure to win it widespread support.

Enthused by its radical creation, NEC declared it "anticipates that its new and unique battery will be used extensively in the future to power all kinds of tiny ubiquitous terminals."

ORB is on display at the iEXPO 2005 being held in Tokyo this week.