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Everyone wants their smartphone battery to last longer. And new research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could help make it possible.

A team of scientists have created what they call a "yolk and shell" invention and reckon it could charge from zero to full in only six minutes.

What's more, the new technology could hold three times' the capacity of the lithium ion batteries in current smartphones and tablets. Meaning you could go for over two days without charging your phone.

The new battery uses nanoparticles to help a titanium dioxide "shell" and aluminium "yolk" (anode) expand and contract without degrading over time.

At the moment, current batteries will expand and contract as soon as they leave the factory. Degrading consumes the battery's lithium which, in turn, lessens the batteries capacity.

(Image: Christine Daniloff/MIT)

“These yolk-shell particles show very impressive performance in lab-scale testing,” said David Lou, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“To me, the most attractive point of this work is that the process appears simple and scalable,” Lou said.

If the technology can be safely and efficiently mass-produced then there's no reason we won't be spending more time away from the mains in the future.