'A battery can deliver far more power than anybody ever thought', he said.

'In recent decades, electronics have gotten small.

'The thinking parts of computers have gotten small.

'And the battery has lagged far behind.

'This is a microtechnology that could change all of that.

'Now the power source is as high-performance as the rest of it.’

Until recently, users have had to choose between power and energy.

For applications that need a lot of power, like broadcasting a radio signal over a long distance, capacitors can release energy very quickly but can only store a small amount. 

For applications that need a lot of energy, like playing a radio for a long time, fuel cells and batteries can hold a lot of energy but they take a long term to recharge.

‘There’s [always been] a sacrifice,’ said James Pikul, a graduate student and first author of the paper.