At the University of Sweden, researchers there developed a new kind of battery that is thin, flexible and promises usage in a host of low-power draw applications, such as RFID tags, pacemakers, small wireless receptors and others.

But what’s it made out of?

Salt and paper.

The battery is thin and flexible to be sure, but the real reason for its pursuit is the promise of incredible cost-effectiveness since the electrode materials and electrochemical solution are really just salt and paper. It’s wild given that Alessandro Volta’s original Voltaic Pile relied on salt as well as part of the briny electrolyte solution, and now we’re seeing a return of the concept in a design far-flung in the future and many times more efficient. Add to that the possibly quick recharge time (according to the article, ten seconds given the membrane’s thin structure allowing for fast ion travel) compared to current generations of batteries and we have a cell that can be used in all sorts of applications that draw low currents in operation.

Probably taking special note should be the medical community– it’s a cell using cellulose paper and SALT. Probably about the two least toxic materials to ever be released into the body from a battery if ever the battery’s casing breached. Think about it, you could charge for the convenience of quick recharge, lightness, thinness and flexibility, and the promise that at worst you’ll get an abnormally high dose of sodium in your body if something goes wrong with it. And to think that manufacturing it would cost something horrendously less than what current generations of batteries do.

As for high-drain devices, you probably won’t be seeing too much of this in your PSPs or laptop/netbook batteries, nor in devices requiring a long-lasting charge like the batteries that maintain a BIOS. Still, I’d look out for this in your favorite watch– pair it with a solar-collecting clock face and you’ve got a battery that can recharge (quickly, remember the quick ion travel) while you’re on the go.

See the original article here.