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- Strategic Elements’ (SOR) subsidiary, Australian Advanced Materials, is accelerating the development of the self-charging flexible battery technology
- This is part of a $1 million project in collaboration with the University of New South Wales and CSIRO to create battery ink cells for Internet of Things devices
- The Internet of Things industry is expected to be worth US$15.9 billion (roughly A$22.5 billion) by 2025
- The battery cells have been created using Strategic Elements’ Nanocube Memory Ink technology with graphene material which can generate electricity from humidity in the air or skin
- Battery cells also have a competitive advantages to lithium batteries as they are thin and light, self-charging, flexible and environmental friendly
- Company shares have dropped 7.14 per cent and are trading for 13 cents
Strategic Elements’ (SOR) subsidiary, Australian Advanced Materials, has agreed to accelerate the development of the self-charging flexible battery technology.
Earlier this week, the subsidiary agreed to develop the technology through its collaboration with the University of New South Wales and CSIRO.
This $1 million project is being partially funded by the Australian Research Council. The expected outcomes are new electronic materials for a wide range of uses in flexible electronics and significant advances in energy efficient data storage devices.
Battery cells have been created by integrating ink formulation and printed electronics intellectual property from SOR’s Nanocube Memory Ink technology with an advanced graphene oxide material. Graphene materials are being incorporated as they’re able to source energy from external factors such as moisture and heat.
Battery cells generate electricity from humidity in the air or skin surface to self-charge within minutes – meaning no manual or wired power charging is necessary.
Importantly, battery cells are suited for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. These IoT devices can include wearable healthcare electronics, smart metres, sensors and home automation products. The devices are being used and advanced more and more which means there is a growing need for thin and flexible batteries.
In 2009, the global battery market for IoT was worth US$8.7 billion (roughly A$12.3 billion) and is expected to be worth US$15.9 billion (roughly A$22.5 billion) in 2025.
To fast track the development of the battery ink cells, the companies aim to achieve one litre of ink within the next four weeks.
“It took years for our team to understand how to scale up our Nanocube Memory Ink to a 1 litre batch size. Achieving this within 4 weeks for the Battery Ink will provide strong evidence of the potential to harness our previous electronic ink experience,” Managing Director Charles Murphy said.
According to the business, one litre of battery ink has the capacity to produce more than 2000 printable battery cells.
The battery ink cells also have advantages over lithium-based batteries such as being self-charging, flexible, not flammable, thin and light, and environmentally friendly.
Company shares have dropped 7.14 per cent and are trading for 13 cents at 1:18 pm AEDT.
