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For a long time, batteries were bulky and heavy. Now, a new cutting-edge battery
is revolutionizing the field. It is thinner than a millimeter, lighter than
a gram, and can be produced cost-effectively through a printing process. | |
In the past, it was necessary to race to the bank for every money transfer
and every bank statement. Today, bank transactions can be easily carried out
at home. Now where is that piece of paper again with the TAN numbers? In the
future you can spare yourself the search for the number. Simply touch your EC
card and a small integrated display shows the TAN number to be used. Just type
in the number and off you go. This is made possible by a printable battery that
can be produced cost-effectively on a large scale. It was developed by a research
team led by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Baumann of the Fraunhofer
Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS in Chemnitz together
with colleagues from TU Chemnitz and Menippos GmbH. “Our goal is to be
able to mass produce the batteries at a price of single digit cent range each,”
states Dr. Andreas Willert, group manager at ENAS.
The characteristics of the battery differ significantly from those of conventional
batteries. The printable version weighs less than one gram on the scales, is
not even one millimeter thick and can therefore be integrated into bank cards,
for example. The battery contains no mercury and is in this respect environmentally
friendly. Its voltage is 1.5 V, which lies within the normal range. By placing
several batteries in a row, voltages of 3 V, 4.5 V and 6 V can also be achieved.
The new type of battery is composed of different layers: a zinc anode and a
manganese cathode, among others. Zinc and manganese react with one another and
produce electricity. However, the anode and the cathode layer dissipate gradually
during this chemical process. Therefore, the battery is suitable for applications
which have a limited life span or a limited power requirement, for instance
greeting cards.
The batteries are printed using a silk-screen printing method similar to that
used for t-shirts and signs. A kind of rubber lip presses the printing paste
through a screen onto the substrate. A template covers the areas that are not
to be printed on. Through this process it is possible to apply comparatively
large quantities of printing paste, and the individual layers are slightly thicker
than a hair. The researchers have already produced the batteries on a laboratory
scale. At the end of this year, the first products could possibly be finished.
Posted July 1st, 2009
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