Platinum has been used in the development of new lithium-ion batteries that could provide much smaller power sources than currently available.

Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have developed the new rechargeable battery, which can reassemble itself from microscopic components.

In the prototype, a platinum current collector was connected to an electrode made up of graphite microbeads packed together. These are kept away from the lithium cobalt oxide that forms the other electrode.

When tested, the researchers found that this new type of battery could be charged and recharged several times.

The researchers have suggested that the development could enable them to create tiny power sources that could be used to power devices created by nanotechnology.

"Ultimately, the goal is just to chuck a bunch of stuff into a bucket and have it self-assemble into a battery," Jeff Dahn, professor of chemistry and physics at Dalhousie University, in Canada, told MIT Review.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd