Regenerator extends alkaline battery life
updated 05:05 pm EDT, Fri September 22, 2006
Battery Regenerator
The finite life of standard alkaline batteries is often assumed to be absolute depletion - the end of the constant chemical reactions that deliver power to the devices they run. British firm Souvenir Cranwell argues differently. Referring to a 1922 patent by Thomas Edison, the company claims that many 'dead' batteries actually have contaminated positive electrodes that prevents the still-vital battery from reacting properly. Accordingly, Souvenir Cranwell has developed a battery regenerator that is purported to restore as much as 95% of an alkaline battery's original charge simply by cleaning the affected contact inside and out to reach its factory condition. Moreover, the company claims its cleaner can regenerate a battery as many as 100 times before the chemicals inside are completely inert. This could potentially extend the weeks-long active lifetime of batteries in portable devices to months or even years. As Souvenir Cranwell is an engineering firm and not a direct manufacturer, a final product has yet to ship.
