New 'Pomegranate-inspired' design could revolutionise battery storage for smartphones

But there is a problem. The brittle silicon swells and falls apart during battery charging.

Over the past eight years, Cui's team has tackled the breakage problem by using silicon nanowires or nanoparticles that are too small to break.

In new study, researchers used a technique common in the oil, paint and cosmetic industries to gather silicon yolk shells into clusters.

They coated each cluster with a second, thicker layer of carbon.

Lab tests showed that pomegranate anodes worked well when made in the thickness required for commercial battery performance.

The team is now working on to simplify the process and find a cheaper source of silicon nanoparticles.

One possible source is rice husks. They are unfit for human food and could be transformed into pure silicon nanoparticles relatively easily, said the research published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.