Nanowire technology was considered by experts for its battery improvement potential for a while now. However, there were a couple of things which keep the technology from becoming a viable solution. One of the weak points of using nanowire technology was cycle stability. The wires which are extremely thin were dimmed brittle and often times failed after repeated exposure to the recharge process.
Scientists discovered how to make nanowire technology less fragile as they prepared a solid state version of the battery. They coated a gold nanowire and surrounded it with a very thin layer of a Plexiglas-like gel. Researchers were dazzled by what they found out: “We were not attempting to extend the cycle life of these electrodes – we just were trying to prepare a solid state version of them by substituting a gel electrolyte for the liquid electrolyte.. We found out we can pass energy through these nanowires hundreds of thousands of times”.
