'Tiny balls of fire' found by chance

M

ost scientific discoveries are the result of deliberate experiment. A few, though, occur by chance.

One such piece of serendipity has just happened to Wang Changan of Tsinghua University, in Beijing, and Li Ju of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its consequence may be batteries that last up to four times longer than those currently on sale.

Dr Wang and Dr Li are materials scientists, and they have been working on tiny particles (known as nanoparticles, because they are mere nanometres, or billionths of a metre, across) made of aluminium. This metal is a good conductor of electricity, but its effectiveness is reduced by the thin coat of oxide which forms on its surface when it is exposed to the air. For large lumps of the stuff this does not matter much. For tiny particles of it, though, it matters a lot, so the two researchers were experimenting with a way to get rid of the nanoparticles’ oxide coats.

Read The Economist story - “Tiny balls of fire”.