Colorado State University’s clean energy commercialization arm, Cenergy, has co-founded Prieto Battery to manufacture charge insertion (Li-ion) batteries using a 3D structure to enable a larger functional surface area. The resulting batteries are cheaper, up to 1,000 times more powerful, and 10 times longer lasting than traditional batteries, according to CSU. Using an electrodeposition process, Amy Prieto, PhD, assistant professor of chemistry, grows nanowires that comprise the anode — the first key piece of the battery. She uses electrodeposition again to coat the tiny structures with a polymer electrolyte. Cathode material then is added around the coated nanowires, resulting in a three-dimensional battery. The nanowires that make up the anode cover a surface area that is 10,000 times greater than a traditional battery, Prieto says. The high number of three-dimensional wires creates a much larger functional surface area than other current batteries. According to Prieto, the electrodeposition manufacturing method is fast and inexpensive, allowing the technology to be scaled up to create batteries that can be used for everything from pacemakers to automobiles.
Prieto Battery is the first start-up produced by Cenergy. Prieto, who also serves as chief scientific officer for the new company, expects to demonstrate the first prototype of the battery by early next year. In February 2009, CSU’s TTO applied for a patent that encompasses all Prieto Battery technology. The patent has been exclusively licensed to the start-up. Bohemian Asset Management in Fort Collins, a privately held division of the Bohemian Cos., supplied the first round of funding for the company.
Source: Green Car Congress