Contour Energy Systems awarded patent for fluorinated carbon nanomaterials and Fluorinetic manufacturing; enhanced Li-ion batteries
02 November 2010
Contour Energy Systems, Inc., a spinoff of the collaboration between CalTech and CNRS focused on developing new fluorine-based battery chemistries, nanomaterials science and manufacturing processes for lithium-ion energy storage systems (earlier post), has been awarded a US patent (US 7,794,880) for its proprietary Fluorinetic production process and fluorinated multi-layered carbon nanomaterials. These technologies will produce significantly longer-lasting portable power solutions with greater power and energy densities than traditional lithium batteries, the company said.
Today’s latest patent protects one of the most prized and strategic technologies in our fast-growing IP portfolio. Our Fluorinetic manufacturing processes and new carbon nanomaterials are game-changing technologies which will be instrumental in developing new batteries with dramatically improved power and energy density, longevity, durability and service life. This newly patented technology is central to Contour’s next-generation batteries that are targeting automotive, consumer, industrial, medical, military and transportation markets.
—Joe Fisher, CEO of Contour Energy Systems
As the commercialization arm for this technology, initially developed at California Institute of Technology and CNRS, the French National Center for Scientific Research, Contour Energy Systems maintains an exclusive worldwide licensing arrangement with both institutions covering advanced battery and electrochemical systems technology.
The Fluorinetic manufacturing process is a unique characteristic of Contour Energy’s carbon fluoride batteries.
This proprietary process for introducing fluorine into multi-layered carbon nanomaterials provides a fundamentally different molecular structure than found for traditional carbon fluoride materials. This new structure, coupled with the use of novel multi-layered carbon nanomaterials, affords significant advantages over existing battery types, including substantial increases in energy and power densities, reliable operation under extreme conditions, an extended shelf life and avoidance of overheating, any of which can be optimized for specific applications.
—Dr. Simon Jones, director of research and development at Contour Energy Systems
Contour combines the advantages offered by its newly patented technology with carbon fluoride chemistry that can be customized during key steps in the manufacturing process by altering the cathode’s physical structure at the atomic level. This Tunable Cathode also plays a key role in providing customers with batteries featuring an optimal combination of higher energy and/or power densities, and lower self-discharge rates.
Great to see fundamental research developing into manufacturing processes. Too bad the word "patent" does not translate into chinese.
Posted by: danm | 02 November 2010 at 08:55 AM
...will dramatically improve the energy and power density, longevity, durability and service life of batteries...
Dramatical improvements are normally above 100%. This could mean going from 200 Wh/Kg to over 400 Wh/Kg + all other goodies.
If the above is true and can such batteries can be produced at an affordable price, the extended range BEV may be on (or near) the horizon.
A recent study found that nano materials deposited on electrodes quickly become coarser causing large performance drops. Will it be the case with this one?
Posted by: HarveyD | 02 November 2010 at 10:42 AM
The patent is a method that prevents this:
"The electrostatic self-assembly process is important. Ordinarily, carbon nanotubes deposited on a surface tend to clump together in bundles leaving fewer exposed surfaces to undergo reactions. We’ve discovered that by integrating charged molecules on the nanotubes, they can assemble in a way that produces a highly porous electrode resulting in a greater number of nanotubes accessible for Li-ion storage and release."
—Dr. Paula Hammond, Bayer Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT
Posted by: Zhukova | 02 November 2010 at 04:02 PM