Nanotechnology is rapidly becoming a more recognised concept for the development of future products as the areas of application are extensive and diverse.  The possibilities of development are considered to be revolutionary due to their potential impact.  Scientists have been testing the technology for the best part of the last 15 years in an effort to understand its potential and speed up the transition to available products. 

Stanford University have tested nanotechnology for battery based purposes.  They developed a configuration based on silicon with nanowires, this structure is unique to any other nano based battery design.  The scientists at Stanford believe that their design produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries.  For consumers, this would be invaluably beneficial as it would see products such as laptops receive a massive power increase and lasting battery life.

Currently there are a number of recognised organisations that have been developing nano based battery configurations.  Six of which include A123Systems, NanoEner Technologies, Mphase Technologies, Altairenano, Naoexa and Zpower.  Each organisation uses a different nano based configuration.  A123Systems announced this year that plans are in place to build advanced battery production facilities in the U.S. which in time would see manufacturing on a large scale.  Additionally, they have agreed a contract with Chrysler to produce the battery supplies for a specific motor vehicle.  Similarly NanoEner have teamed up with Nissan to develop develop battery power which is aimed to reduce costs and further enhance electric and hybrid vehicles.  Currently there are few fully battery powered cars available on the market, most notably two production cars offered by American motor group Tesla.  It has been reported that these cars achieve up to 300 miles before recharge and that each car uses a form of automatic transmission as gears are not required.    

In addition to portable electronics and transportation, contracts have also been agreed for many other fields of applications, such as military and government.

Despite the benefits offered by nanotechnology there remains uncertainty surrounding it’s usage in not only consumer products but also at testing levels.  Reasons for this originate from reported scientific views that question current legislation for testing, and existing knowledge of the technology.  Considering problems have occurred and been well documented with existing batteries it is reasonable to be concerned for the introduction of nanotechnology to battery design.