 |
| 卡雷介紹她獲獎的這項發明為「超級電容」，基本上是一種電力儲存裝置。（取自每日郵報網站） |
nydailynews.com
California 18-year-old Esha Khare amazed judges at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Next stop: Harvard.
Monday, May 20, 2013, 10:28 AM
This futuristic gizmo developed by a California teen in her spare time could revolutionize cellphone technology.
Esha Khare is being courted by Google and other tech giants after she wowed the world with a device that may soon be able to charge a phone in 20 seconds flat.
The 18-year-old, from Saratoga, scooped a $50,000 prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix last week.
And now she's promising to "set the world on fire" as she gets ready to study at Harvard.
Khare has so far only used her super-fast charging gadget — dubbed a supercapacitor — to power a light-emitting diode.
But she believes the contraption, which packs more energy into a smaller space and holds the charge for longer, could one day be used to power phones, cars and other equipment.
Frustrated with the short life of her cellphone battery, she told NBC News she started working on the energy-storage technology as a solution.
And, by specializing in nanochemistry, she was able to scale down the size of her invention.
"It is also flexible, so it can be used in roll-up displays and clothing and fabric," Khare said, before adding: "It has a lot of different advantages over batteries in that sense."
....................................................
2013-5-21自由時報
少女發明充電裝置 20秒餵飽手機
〔編譯管淑平／綜合報導〕目前愈來愈普及的智慧型手機，充電往往需要數小時，但美國加州一名18歲 少女發明一款體積小巧的「超級電容」（supercapacitor），20到30秒就能充飽電，若日後經改良用於手機電池，手機沒電時只要幾十秒即可恢 復電力，她因此贏得上週舉行的英特爾國際科學競賽5萬美元（近150萬台幣）獎金，更因這項發明未來前景可期而受到Google注意。
這名少女卡雷介紹她獲獎的這項發明為「超級電容」，基本上是一種電力儲存裝置，體積小卻能儲存大量電力，而且電力維持時間更久，充飽電只要20到30秒；更令人讚嘆的是，這款電容的充電循環次數可達1萬次，比現行一般充電電池壽命多10倍。
卡 雷說，她的研發靈感來自於「我的手機電池經常沒電」，目前僅在發光二極體（LED）上實際應用過，但她認為這種「超級電容」未來應用潛力龐大，不但可用於 手機、筆電等，大幅減少這些電子裝置的充電時間，也能用於汽車電池。而且由於「超級電容」的體積小巧和可撓性，也可能發展出其他非傳統應用途徑，例如「可 捲曲的顯示器、衣服、布料」等。
這項發明也吸引科技公司注意，Google已和她接觸，想了解她未來的後續計畫。卡雷今年秋天將進入哈佛大學就讀，將用這筆5萬美元獎金支付學費。卡雷說，她對奈米化學（nanochemistry）很感興趣，超級電容的成功增加她的信心，未來也將繼續研究奈米科技。
