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Vanderbilt graduate student Anna Douglas holding one of the batteries that she has modified by adding millions of quantum dots made from iron pyrite, fool’s gold. Credit: John Russell, Vanderbilt University

If you add quantum dots – nanocrystals 10,000X smaller than the width of a human hair – to a smartphone battery it will charge in 30 seconds, but the effect only lasts for a few recharge cycles. However some Vanderbilt University researtchers have found a way to overcome this problem: Making the quantum dots out of iron pyrite ie as fool’s gold, can produce batteries that charge quickly and work for dozens of cycles.

Iron pyrite is one of the most abundant materials in the earth’s surface...