Phone running out of juice? We’ve all been there.

Researchers at MIT and China’s technology-focused Tsinghua University have developed aluminium-based nanoparticles that could triple the capacity of lithium-ion batteries – the most common type of rechargeable battery, and one commonly used in consumer electronics such as laptop computers.

Not only are they more durable, but the new batteries are touted as being able to hold three times the capacity of current lithium-ion batteries found in mobile devices, meaning smartphones, laptops and tablets could go several days without requiring a recharge.

Publishing its findings online, the team’s electrode differs from standard electrodes in that it uses aluminium for the yoke and titanium dioxide as the shell, rather than graphite. Current batteries expand and contract as they charge and discharge, reforming and shedding a “skin” layer which consumes lithium. The design had been tested successfully, indicating super-fast, longer-lasting rechargeable batteries in mobile devices could be “quite close to being ready for real applications”, the MIT report said.

Prof Ju Li and the team said that all the materials used in the experiment are relatively affordable and, with the right methods, could be scalable for manufacturing rather than just a lab experiment.

The batteries won’t be in commercial production in time for the next iPhone release, but, hopefully, won’t be too far off.