“The big picture is that there may be a very simple way to stabilize nanowires of the type that we studied,” Penner says. “If this turns out to be generally true, it would be a great advance for the community.”
Since most household electronics have life spans limited by factors besides battery life, a battery that lasts for a decade or two could easily outlive the device it powers.
“If you could get 100,000 cycles out of a lithium ion battery it might mean you never need to buy two of them,” Penner says. “We’re talking about a lifetime of 20 years, maybe even longer than that.”