Scientist at University of Adelaide Working on First Quantum Battery

A scientist at the University of Adelaide scientist has ambitious plans to build what he says would be the first quantum battery in the world. One main issue that has served as a barrier to the widespread adoption of electrical vehicles is the relatively long time needed for charging. If the new Ramsey fellow at the University of Adelaide, Dr. James Quach has his way, that is soon set to change. According to him the quantum battery that he plans to develop could need less than a second to charge and could mark a significant breakthrough.

Dr. Quach is an expert in quantum physics and will be working as part of the Precision Management Group in the university’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing. He plans to initially make quantum batteries that could be used instead of conventional batteries in small electronic devices like smartphones, watches and iPads before scaling up to batteries for electric vehicles. The university is hoping that larger quantum batteries could potentially be used for opportunities in renewable energy.

Dr Quach’s invention is based on the theory that the more quantum batteries need to be charged, the less the time they need for charging. This is in sharp contrast to ordinary batteries which take the same time to charge regardless of the number.

He said that if one quantum battery takes one hour to charge, two would take 30 minutes, three would take 20 minutes, and so on. This is based on a feature of quantum mechanics known as entanglement.

Dr. Quach said that quantum mechanics deals with interactions at the very smallest of scales, at the levels of atoms and molecules and at this level the particles exhibit very special properties which violate the conventional laws of physics. One of these properties is entanglement which means that when two objects are entangled, their individual properties are always shared and they somehow lose their sense of individuality. This property can be leveraged to speed up the battery charging process.”
Dr Quach had first discussed this in a research paper he published in 2013 and now he plans to take this theory from the blackboard to the lab through the four-year Ramsey Fellowship.

Dr. Quach said, “Entanglement is incredibly delicate, it requires very specific conditions – low temperatures and an isolated system – and when those conditions change the entanglement disappears.”

His aim is to extend the theory of the quantum battery, and make a lab that would provide the conditions needed for entanglement so that he could proceed with the development of the first quantum battery.

Dr Quach says the quantum battery could support renewable energy technologies by allowing for a continuous energy supply irrespective of the weather conditions.