The World’s Smallest Battery

Nowadays, there aren't many items that use D batteries, but if you used them in the past or still own an occasional device that does, you know how large and awkward they were. Devices are now much smaller, lighter, and more portable thanks to scaling back on batteries.

However, the process is still ongoing, and there is still plenty of room for batteries to get smaller. For instance, engineers have succeeded in producing a working battery the size of a sand grain. The world's tiniest battery, which is the size of a salt grain and can be used to power surgical implants and microrobots, has reportedly been created by an international research team.

These incredibly small batteries could power correspondingly small computers. They would be perfect for use in wearable technology, particularly in implanted medical devices that must be made as compact as possible. They can power dust-mote-sized computers for up to 10 hours and are created using a process known as the Swiss-Roll that rolls of thin film layers.

• Size: grain of salt
  
  
• Creators: international research team