---
title: "This “Quantum Battery” Never Loses Its Charge"
description: "A team of scientists from the universities of Alberta and Toronto have laid out the \"blueprints\" for a \"quantum battery\" that never loses its charge."
date: "2019-10-25"
modified: "2019-10-25"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/quantum-battery-never-loses-charge"
categories:
  - "Computing"
  - "Quantum Computing"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "battery life"
  - "quantum"
  - "quantum effects"
  - "the digest"
---

# This “Quantum Battery” Never Loses Its Charge

![A team of scientists from the universities of Alberta and Toronto have laid out the "blueprints" for a "quantum battery" that never loses its charge.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/quantum-battery.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Berndthaller/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Quantum Battery

A team of scientists from the universities of Alberta and Toronto have laid out the blueprints for a "quantum battery" that never loses its charge.

To be clear, this battery doesn't exist yet — but if they figure out how to build it, it could be a revolutionary breakthrough in energy storage.

"The batteries that we are more familiar with — like the lithium-ion battery that powers your smartphone — rely on classical electrochemical principles, whereas quantum batteries rely solely on quantum mechanics," University of Alberta chemist Gabriel Hanna said in [a statement](<https://phys.org/news/2019-10-blueprint-quantum-battery-doesnt.html>).

## Dark State

[A paper](<https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b06373>) describing the research was published in the *Journal of Physical Chemistry C.* in July. The battery works by harnessing the power of "excitonic energy" — the state in which an electron absorbs sufficiently charged photons of light.

The researchers found that their resulting battery model should be "highly robust to energy losses," thanks to the fact that their battery is prepared inside a "dark state" where it cannot exchange energy — by absorbing or releasing photons — with its surroundings.

## Large Charge

By breaking down this "dark state" quantum network, the researchers claim the battery could be able to discharge and release energy in the process.

But the team has yet to come up with viable ways of doing so. They will also have to figure out a way to scale the technology for real-world applications as well.

**READ MORE:** [Researchers create blueprint for 'quantum battery' that doesn't lose charge](<https://phys.org/news/2019-10-blueprint-quantum-battery-doesnt.html>) \[*University of Alberta*\]

**More on quantum states:** *[Stacking Graphene Creates Entirely New Quantum States](<https://futurism.com/stacking-graphene-new-quantum-states>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)