by TechNewsDaily staff
updated 7/13/2010 6:33:25 PM ET
Using super-high pressures similar to those found deep in the Earth or on a giant planet, researchers have created a compact, never-before-seen material capable of storing vast amounts of energy.
To create this material, researchers crushed xenon difluoride — a white crystal used to etch silicon conductors — between two small diamond anvils. A so-called diamond anvil cell is a small device just a few inches in diameter capable of producing extremely high pressures in an even smaller space.
Though the research is just at a basic science level for now, the findings shows it is possible to infuse mechanical energy into a material via extremely strong chemical bonds.
"It is the most condensed form of energy storage outside of nuclear energy," says Choong-Shik Yoo, a professor of chemistry at Washington State University and lead author of the paper published in a recent issue of the journal Nature Chemistry.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38230362/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/