mPhase Technologies Unveils Reserve NanoBattery Prototypes

mPhase Technologies (News - Alert) announced it has successfully produced reserve lithium battery prototypes for emergency flashlight applications. The company specializes in microfluidics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanotechnology. The Smart NanoBattery is mPhase’s first nanotechnology-enabled product.

 

With the help of its subsidiary AlwaysReady, mPhase is in the process of commercializing the product for military and commercial applications. mPhase recently received a Phase II $749,700 grant from the U.S. Army for continued development of the Smart NanoBattery to control computer memory backup applications.

 

The Smart NanoBattery is a compact reserve lithium battery with a manually activated breakable separator capable of powering a high-intensity emergency flashlight for more than two hours continuously at full brightness. mPhase is pursuing the concept of using a reserve battery with a breakable separator in a high-intensity emergency flashlight either as the primary power supply or as a reliable source of backup power, the company said.

 

In the manually activated breakable separator technology, the liquid electrolyte remains separated from the solid electrodes till the time battery needs to be activated. This feature provides the battery with potentially infinite shelf life because it does not lose power while sitting on the shelf inactive. The electrowettable membrane, which is used in the mPhase/AlwaysReady Smart NanoBattery, also uses the same process. However, while the electrowettable membrane is activated by applying a voltage at the interface between the liquid and membrane surface, the breakable separator is manually activated through a well-defined physical force. The result in both cases is that the liquid electrolyte mixes with the solid electrodes thus releasing the stored energy and 3 volts of power when lithium chemistry is employed.

 

The prototype was developed in conjunction with a respected battery design and development firm, mPhase said. Two designs — cylindrical and planar — are possible for the flashlight. They may be equipped with a krypton bulb or light emitting diode (LED), depending on the brightness and runtime required for the situation.

 

“By working with an experienced battery designer and developer, we were able to rapidly transform our ideas into practice for packaging and trigging a reserve-style lithium battery for a consumer application like an emergency flashlight,” said Ron Durando, CEO of mPhase, in a statement. “We see this as a big step forward in getting a product to market enabled by our unique technology.”