Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Engineers in the US have produced child-safe batteries with a special coating that stops them causing harm if they are swallowed.
Small, button-shaped batteries can be easy to swallow and cause thousands of injuries every year, some fatal.
The new coating only conducts electricity when squeezed - such as when a battery is inside its spring-loaded compartment.
The rest of the time it insulates the battery, making it inactive and safe.
The process is described in the science journal PNAS. The insulation is critical, because the injuries and deaths happen when batteries get wet and release current after they are swallowed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29885832
Small, button-shaped batteries can be easy to swallow and cause thousands of injuries every year, some fatal.
The new coating only conducts electricity when squeezed - such as when a battery is inside its spring-loaded compartment.
The rest of the time it insulates the battery, making it inactive and safe.
The process is described in the science journal PNAS. The insulation is critical, because the injuries and deaths happen when batteries get wet and release current after they are swallowed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29885832