Batteries

170 years ago, Faraday appreciated the different electrical properties of nano gold over bulk metal in electrical devices, so applying nanotechnology to these things is scarcely new. However, the huge sums now being applied to improvement of lithium traction batteries in particular are now leading to work on a much larger scale and thin film technology, nanotechnology and printing are in increasingly important part of this. Potential is considerable. LG of Korea, one of the leaders in traction batteries, forecasts 4.6 million electric cars produced in 2015 and IDTechEx forecasts 3.8 million for that year - hybrid and pure electric. The conference "Lithium Battery Technology and System Development" in London 9 March 2010 was concerned with "breaking barriers for electric vehicles". Professor John Owen of the School of Chemistry at the University of Southampton in the UK described work on interdigitated laminar electrodes to overcome the problems of ionic and polymeric electrolytes that are resistive. His team is involved in a pan European project working on this that involves Swedish, Dutch and French organisations, Varta Battery and St Jude Medical.

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) - self organising, self healing networks of small "nodes" - have huge potential across industrial, military and other many other sectors. While appreciable sales have now been established, major progress depends on standards and achieving twenty year life.

Find out the most exciting advances and applications in the new world of stretchable, invisible, morphable, tightly rollable, edible and other previously impossible electronics.

Enfucell, a Finnish company recognized for its achievements in developing its SoftBattery® technology, has received a 600.000 eur capital injection from its existing and new owners, including Vera Venture and Varma, who have both invested in the company previously.

The first fully printed electronic game card has been developed by Austrian company prelonic.

Researchers have developed a novel, patent-pending process for 'spraying' solar cells and their related components onto glass which could provide significant commercial production advantages over today's thin-films.

Electronics and electrics are becoming ubiquitous, the devices appearing on and in higher and higher volume products including e-labels and e-packaging. This calls for different forms of battery, capacitor and other energy storage because priorities such as environmental credentials, thinness and compatibility with energy harvesting (eg. solar cells) come to the fore alongside life and cost.

Fairchild Semiconductor's MicroFET thin package helps designers avoid compromising their designs by providing them with an industry-leading low profile package. Working with design engineers and procurement managers, Fairchild developed an integrated P-Channel PowerTrench® MOSFET and Schottky diode, as a single-package solution to meet critical efficiency and thermal needs in battery charging and power-multiplexing applications.

A new thin-film paper battery that holds great promise for applications in areas where conventional Li-ion batteries are not the perfect choice has been developed at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Plug in hybrid electric cars are now prioritised by most major car manufacturers. Pure electric on- road cars are prioritised by Nissan and a host of vibrant start up companies, they have one thing in common. The cleverest, most expensive part of their planned vehicles is increasingly the traction battery.

ReVolt Technology applies for $30 million in government research grants accelerating development of innovative zinc-air batteries for vehicles and renewable energy storage.

Power Paper's new business model solidifies company standing as the leading developer of paper thin, flexible and environmentally safe, printable micro-electronic clean technology and patches.

While some involved in OLEDs and OTFTs are moving out of the business of printed and potentially printed electronics, work on inorganic materials and compounds is increasing. The IDTechEx Printed Electronics Asia event in Tokyo will give a balanced view with many presentations being World firsts.

Part II of a beginner's guide to electronic components and how they are made.

The New University of Lisbon presented a new Ion Jelly® material, which combines a biodegradable polymer (gelatin) with an ionic liquid (IL).

A new printed battery that can be produced cost-effectively on a large scale could soon power small integrated displays on electronic bank cards.

There are huge opportunities for companies providing inorganic chemicals to printed and potentially printed electronics. Here, Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx, summarises some of the findings from the new IDTechEx report "Inorganic and Composite Printed Electronics 2009-2019."

Some of the new electric cars generate at least some of their electric power from solar cells on the vehicle - In future, they may generate electricity in part from shock absorbers, transparent solar cells over windows and thermoelectrically from the engine and exhaust in hybrid.

Over 100 industry executives have already confirmed their participation for Thin Film Today's forthcoming Thin Film Solar Summit Europe, scheduled to take place in Berlin next month.

UPM Raflatac and Blue Spark Technologies partner to drive new battery assisted passive RFID research and product development

Nanotecture has developed microbatteries and supercapacitors aimed at markets such as boosting the flash in mobile phone cameras to take pictures farther away, audio buffering in mobile phones etc for higher quality sound and powered smart cards.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers have created a kind of beltway that allows for the rapid transit of electrical energy through a well-known battery material, an advance that could usher in smaller, lighter batteries for cell phones and other devices that could recharge in seconds rather than hours.

The Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems (Chemnitz, Germany) demonstrated their innovative printed battery in Tokyo last month.

Next-generation, ultra-thin rechargeable batteries for micro devices such as smart cards, portable sensors and RFID tags could be used in energy harvesting applications suggest IDTechEx.

A Swedish research centre has been established for intelligent pharmaceutical packaging, smart foods packaging, hospital logistics and patient care.

Is a problem looming in the electronics industry due to some estimates that the demand for lithium will increase three to seven times by 2012?

Laminar batteries are usually having success only where the need for thinness and flexibility is extreme. IDTechEx interview companies at Printed Electronics World USA to find out more.

Vibration energy harvesting is receiving a considerable amount of interest as a means for powering wireless sensor nodes. It is the simple notion that mechanical vibration can be transformed into useful electrical power.

Researchers have developed a new type of small-scale electric power generator able to produce alternating current through the cyclical stretching and releasing of zinc oxide wires encapsulated in a flexible plastic substrate with two ends bonded.

How Printed Electronics is changing consumer goods and services - highlights from the forthcoming Printed Electronics USA event

IDTechEx finalises its report on the Intellipak conference held on 5 November in Sweden

prelonic build first display - battery modules: fully printed, on one substrate and low-cost. Focused to mass production processes these prototypes will be the base of the starting business in 2009.

IDTechEx report on the Intellipak conference held in Sweden on 5 November that was mainly in Swedish and partly in English with just over 40 attending and excellent content.

Energy harvesting, otherwise known as energy scavenging is needed to boost and eventually replace the batteries in printed and other low cost and miniature electronics, particularly in order to extend their life in use.

IDTechEx's technology analyst Dr Harry Zervos attended GRAPH EXPO 2008 and reports on the innovative technologies that could benefit from the merging of electronics and printing.

IDTechEx has just issued a report on the hot topic of Wireless Sensor Networks WSN, also known as Ubiquitous Sensor Networks USN. The report is called Wireless Sensor Networks.

Cymbet Corporation has developed a breakthrough in battery technology with the introduction of the EnerChip™ CC CBC3112 and CBC3150 thin-film batteries with integrated battery management.

The new IDTechEx masterclass, called "Creating new products with printed electronics," will explore the needs by industry sector and appraise the technologies and timelines.

Two British design firms PDD and Goose Design have teamed up to develop a stylish cycling jacket aimed at the fashion conscious cyclist that can be seen in the dark using electroluminescent and photovoltaic technology.

MIT engineers in the USA have been working on pioneering research to develop tiny microbatteries about half the size of a human cell, built with viruses.

New Blue Spark UT Series (ultra-thin) paves the way for innovative RFID card and label solutions; Blue Spark HD Series (high-drain) provides a power boost to handle drug delivery patches and novelty greeting cards.

Thin Battery Technologies, the leading supplier of thin, flexible printed battery solutions, announced that the company's new name will be Blue Spark Technologies

TEKES The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, on 27 June granted Enfucell a 1,5 million euros loan for development of the SoftBattery™ technology.

Printed electronics today is mainly a matter of inorganic rather than organic chemistry and the next ten years are unlikely to see the inorganic part drop below 50% of the high value materials required.

Investment proceeds will be focused to strengthen Enfucell's active participation and presence in expanding European, American and Chinese markets.

Lithium ion batteries have a relatively short lifespan and in extreme circumstances can catch fire or even explode.

Nanosilver is so tiny it can go right to the surface of an organism and essentially shoot ions into the organism, says a research scientist.

Taking medication wrongly is a huge problem, resulting in more than 150,000 people dying unnecessarily in both North America and in Europe every year.

Solicore has developed a unique Polymer Matrix Electrolyte (PME) which allows batteries to be ultra-thin, very flexible, environmentally friendly and extremely safe.

A stretchable, flexible self-cleaning device that can be used as a mobile phone or keyboard that harvests solar energy and senses the environment by using nanotechnology was launched this week.