Sea Snail Teeth Hold Key To Faster-Charging Electric Cars

The lithium-ion batteries in everything from iPhones to electric cars may improved thanks to the little teeth of a marine snail, which engineers have studied to develop less costly and more efficient materials for solar cells and lithium-ion batteries.

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside have used the teeth of the gumboot chiton, a marine snail found off the California coast, which contains magnetite, the hardest biomineral known on Earth.

The chiton is the largest sea snail of its kind. David Kisailus, an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering, has studied the snail for five years and successfully replicated the snail's process of growing the magnetite in a lab.

"Incredibly, all of this occurs at room temperature and under environmentally benign conditions," Kisailus said, according to Science Daily. "This makes it appealing to utilize similar strategies to make nanomaterials in a cost-effective manner."

The chiton is found on the shores of the Pacific Ocean from central California to Alaska. They have a leathery upper skin, which is usually reddish-brown and occasionally orange, leading some to give it the nickname "wandering meatloaf," the report said.

The magnetic nanomaterial can be used in the production of solar cells and lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries could require significantly less time to recharge, according to a report by Wards Auto.

The chiton teeth method of engineering nanocrystals has a cost advantage as well, because it is done at room temperature the cost of producing the nanomaterial is significantly lower.

Production cars like the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and Tesla electric cars all rely on lithium-ion batteries to operate. It may take up to 12 hours to fully charge the electric cars' battery packs.

You can see the gumboot chiton's teeth in the video below.