What can nanotechnology do for your batteries? With Altairnano’s innovative technology, the possibilities have never been greater. Think about an innovative rechargeable battery designed to meet the challenges of ordinary rechargeable batteries. Those challenges include a long recharge time, short cycle life, poor operational safety and no tolerance for extreme temperatures. If you had a battery that could meet those challenges, you could move into new applications and new markets.
A battery with nanomaterials
At Altairnano, we’ve developed new electrode materials to help you offer an environmentally safe battery with:
Innovative Technology
Using a unique manufacturing process, we create nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and other ceramic oxide materials and compounds. This flexible, patented process proves precise control over the nanomaterial properties, including surface area, morphology, particle size and purity. The result is high-quality components such as our novel nano-structured lithium titanate anode material.
Altair is developing technology that operates in the high power region previously not served by other technologies:
New anode material
The principal advance that Altairnano has made is in the optimization of nano-structured lithium titanate spinel oxide (LTO) electrode materials that replace the graphite electrode materials found in negative electrodes of current Li-Ion batteries. So far these have been combined with positive electrodes from common lithium ion batteries.
Faster recharging and discharging
An electrode made with nanomaterials does not react with the electrolytes used in most lithium ion systems. No reaction means that no Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) barrier is formed around the electrode, making it easier for lithium ions to reach the surface of the electrode. And, with a nano-structured component, there’s more surface area available to the ions—up to 100 times more surface area than with conventional, graphite electrodes.
The nanomaterials facilitate access to the active sites required for battery operation. What’s more, the small size of the materials dramatically reduces the distance from the surface to the sites—all of which helps accelerate recharging and discharging.
Longer battery life
The mechanical stress and strain caused by ions entering and exiting electrodes reduces the life of a battery. We offer zero-strain materials that change little with ion movement, enhancing battery calendar and cycle life.
Operation in extreme temperature conditions
If a battery has a SEI barrier, it can’t be charged at temperatures below 32° Fahrenheit. The pores in the barrier close, eliminating access to the active sites. An electrode with our nanomaterials will not form a SEI barrier, allowing it to safely operate down to -30°C. Even at this low temperature nearly 90% of room temperature charge retention is realized from Altairnano’s nano lithium titanium oxide cells at 2C rates. Traditional Li-Ion technology possesses virtually no charging capabilities at this low temperature.
High operating temperature tests on Altairnano based cells have been conducted at 65°C where we have demonstrated 9C 90% charge retention.
Ultra-safe characteristics
Altairnano has performed “hot box” exercises on our batteries at temperatures up to 240°C — which is more than 100°C above the temperature at which graphite-based batteries can explode — with zero explosions or safety concerns. In addition, we’ve performed high-rate overcharge, puncture, crush, drop and other comparative tests alongside a wide range of graphite-based battery cells with, again, no malfunctions, explosions or safety concerns exhibited by the nano-structured Altairnano nLTO cells. In comparison, the graphite cells, put to the same tests, routinely smoked, caught fire and exploded.
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