ADVANCE BATTERY STORAGE

For decades, battery storage technology has been a heavy weight on the back of scientific innovation. From cell phones to electric vehicles, our technological capabilities always seem to be several steps ahead of our ability to power them. Several promising new technologies are currently under development to help power the 21st century, but one small start-up looks especially well positioned to transform the way we think about energy storage.

Texas-based EEStor, Inc. is not exactly proposing a new battery, since no chemicals are used in its design. The technology is based on the idea of a solid state ultra capacitor, but cannot be accurately described in these terms either. Ultra capacitors have an advantage over electrochemical batteries (i.e. lithium-ion technology) in that they can absorb and release a charge virtually instantaneously while undergoing virtually no deterioration. Batteries trump ultra capacitors in their ability to store much larger amounts of energy at a given time.

EEStor’s take on the ultra capacitor — called the Electrical Energy Storage Unit, or EESU — combines the best of both worlds. The advance is based on a barium-titanate insulator claimed to increase the specific energy of the unit far beyond that achievable with today’s ultra capacitor technology. It is claimed that this new advance allows for a specific energy of about 280 watts per kilogram — more than double that of the most advanced lithium-ion technology and a whopping ten times that of lead-acid batteries. This could translate into an electric vehicle capable of traveling up to 500 miles on a five minute charge, compared with current battery technology which offers an average 50-100 mile range on an overnight charge. As if that weren’t enough, the company claims they will be able to mass-produce the units at a fraction the cost of traditional batteries.

“It’s a paradigm shift,” said Ian Clifford of ZENN Motor Co., an early investor and exclusive rights-holder for use of the technology in electric cars. “The Achilles’ heel to the electric car industry has been energy storage. By all rights, this would make internal combustion engines unnecessary.”

But this small electric car company isn’t the only organization banking on the new technology. Lockheed-Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor, has also signed on with EEStor for use of the technology in military applications. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital investment firm who counts Google and Amazon among their early-stage successes, has also invested heavily in the company.

QTC

QTC is a composite made from micron-sized metallic filler particles (Silicone Rubber) mixed into an elastomeric matrix. Quantum tunnelling composite is a flexible polymer that exhibits extraordinary electrical properties. In its normal state it is a perfect insulator, but when compressed it becomes a more or less perfect conductor and able to pass very high currents.

History:

First produced in 1996, QTC is a composite material made from conductive filler particles combined with an elastomeric binder, typically silicone rubber. The unique method of combining these raw materials results in a composite which exhibits significantly different electrical properties when compared with any other electrically conductive material.

Types of QTC:

1. Elastomeric (Material: Silicone Rubber) (The particle move close together)

2. Ink / Coating Solvent or Aqueous Polymer

3. Granular Sensors

Working of Quantum tunnelling composite:

QTC usually comes in the form of pills or sheet. QTC pills are just tiny little pieces of the material. The sheets are composed of one layer of QTC, one layer of a conductive material, and a third layer of a plastic insulator. While QTC sheets switch quickly between high and low resistances, QTC pills are pressure sensitive variable resistors.

Application:

– Touch switches (sheet)
– Force/pressure sensors (pills)
– Motor speed control using force (pills)

Benefits:

• QTC is a pressure/force sensing material. It can be easily integrated into existing products to enable force sensing opportunities and solutions.
• Product surfaces can be incorporated, coated or impregnated with QTC to impart the properties of force sensing into or onto the host surface.
• QTC material can be formed or moulded into virtually any size, thickness or shape, permitting redesign of product interfaces and providing improved ergonomics, aesthetics and user comfort.
• QTC is an enabling technology which is simple and reliable to use.
• QTC material is durable – it has no moving parts to wear out.
• QTC material is mechanically strong.
• QTC material can be made to withstand extreme temperatures limits.
• QTC material is versatile, both electrically and physically e.g. Its range and sensitivity can be altered. QTC material is also intrinsically safe – the material is a contactless switch, ideal for sparkless operation.
• QTC material can be directly interfaced to standard electronic and electrical devices.
• QTC material and/or technology can be customized for customer requirements, applications and products.