Energy Storage

Less than 3 weeks remain before the 4th instalment of the IDTechEx European conference on energy harvesting, WSN and RTLS, taking place in Berlin on the 15th and 16th of May. Just before the event opens its doors to its attendees, Dr Harry Zervos, technology analyst with IDTechEx, interviewed some of the main speakers on their involvement with energy harvesting and wireless sensing and the reasons why their integration is becoming increasingly important in a wide range of applications.

As the potential for the further improvement of lithium-ion batteries is nearly exhausted, experts are now turning to a new and promising power storage device: lithium-sulfur batteries.

3M has a new battery innovation that could enable gadgets to run for 40 percent longer once charged.

CAP-XX Limited a leading developer of thin, prismatic supercapacitors (also known as ultracapacitors or EDLC), announced that it has developed a supercapacitor module which supplies the cranking current to start the engine in Stop-Start vehicles (also known as start-stop, idle-stop, or micro-hybrid vehicles), reducing wear on the battery and eliminating the need for larger, more expensive ones.

Chemists have now developed a way to make porous metal films with up to 1,000 times the electrical conductivity offered by previous methods.

Blue Spark's Thin, Flexible Batteries Light Up Interactive Printed Media Demonstrator at Printed Electronics Europe 2012.

Researchers at UCLA have used a standard LightScribe DVD optical drive to produce electrodes composed of an expanded network of graphene — a one-atom-thick layer of graphitic carbon — that shows excellent mechanical and electrical properties as well as exceptionally high surface area.

Most green technologies are not so green on closer examination.

The parties announce an ecosystem for integrated printed electronics products and will together provide all the key technology elements for complete PE products aimed at the consumer, security and novelty markets.

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, announced last week six new projects supported by the Automotive Partnership Canada (APC) initiative at the University of Windsor.

NEC Corporation has announced the development of an ultra-thin, 0.3mm thick, organic radical battery that is compatible within standard IC cards of 0.76mm thickness and suitable for use in electronic paper and other technologies.

BASF, through its global Battery Materials business unit, today announced that it has signed a long-term licensing agreement to acquire global rights for the production and sale of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery materials technology from LiFePO4+C Licensing AG, Muttenz, Switzerland.

In 2012, four Liquid Robotics "PACX Wave Glider" AUV gliders set a new distance world record by travelling autonomously almost 6000 kilometers.

Researchers develop graphene supercapacitor holding promise for portable electronics

NEC Corporation has developed an ultra-thin, 0.3mm thick, organic radical battery that is compatible within standard IC cards of 0.76mm thickness.

Transaction will create global, vertically integrated rare earth technology leader and will give Molycorp a greater range of products and increased sales opportunities across Asia.

By 2022 the USA Energy Department hopes that companies in the United States will be the first in the world to produce a 5-passenger affordable American electric vehicle with a payback time of less than 5 years and sufficient range and fast-charging ability to enable average Americans everywhere to meet their daily transportation needs more conveniently and at lower cost.

Toyota Motor Corp has developed a way to make hybrid and electric vehicles without the use of expensive rare earth metals, in which China has a near-monopoly.