At current, lithium-ion batteries are the best we have, but the problem is this: they take a really long time to charge. Now, a team of researchers has developed a new manufacturing technique to cut down the time of charging from hours to minutes.

Li-on batteries today have conductors that feed the charge holding particles held within the cell. the problem is when that charge is deposited from the outside in, the charge holding section in the middle isn't directly exposed to any current.

What the new technique does is that it makes the batteries densely interwoven with conductors so that the entire battery can start to charge at the same time. It was developed by researchers at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea.

The researchers placed the cell material in a solution containing graphite, causing carbon to permeate the materials. When it became carbonized, the result is a "dense network of conductors throughout the electrodes of the battery".

The demo shown by the team showed that the battery can be recharged between 30 and 120 times faster than normal li-on batteries.

The results are published in Angewandte Chemie.