Rapid battery charging is essential for efficient use of battery-powered equipment, both underground and on surface. John Chadwick is completing his article on battery power for the February issue – any editorial input to [email protected].

Roskill reports that a team of researchers from China’s Zhejiang University have developed a new type of aluminium-graphene battery “which can achieve full charge in just 1.1 seconds with enough power to run a light bulb for one hour.

“The battery retained 91% of its original capacity after 250,000 charge/discharge cycles, and performed stably in temperatures from -40 to 120ºC, according to the team. It can be folded, and does not explode when exposed to fire. The breakthrough was detailed in Science Advances, a US peer-reviewed scientific journal.”

Artisan (pictured a 40 t battery truck) is one of the pioneers that will be examined in Chadwick’s article.