Printed battery power output rises says Strategic Elements

Printable electronics developer Australian Advanced Materials, a company owned by investment house Strategic Elements, has reported increasing power output from its printed devices that generate electricity from moisture in the air (pictured).

The company said it has shown a further 225 percent increase in power output and for the first time had demonstrated an ‘ultra-stable output voltage’ from moisture.

Stable output voltages are critical to power the sensitive electronic circuits contained in many electronic devices, including wearable devices.

AAM, working in partnership with the University of New South Wales and researcher VTT group in Finland has developed and tested printed Energy Ink cells.

The company reported work at the University of New South Wales on printed electrode design, nanoengineering and integration of functional materials significantly upgraded the ability of the Energy Ink to produce a highly stable output voltage from moisture.

The company’s Perth Engineering Lab utilised a new power management module to modulate and control the output voltage whilst emulating the load of a leading Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) skin patch.

“An ultra-stable, highly controlled output voltage demonstrated the stability to power sensitive digital electronics such as CPUs, memory and wireless communications.”

The company said the output voltage was maintained at 1.8V with a maximum variation during tests of +/–0.5 percent, while a 225 percent increase in power was achieved.

“The Energy Ink is still in early development, and the fundamental upper limit of aspects such as maximum power output, duration and energy density remains unknown.

“The team has successfully progressed the Energy Ink from the initial concept to successful breakthroughs.”

The company has described its Nanocube Memory Ink is a revolutionary printable memory technology based on a transparent ink that can be printed onto surfaces such as plastic, glass and silicon.

Electricity is generated through water molecules in the air being absorbed into a layer of nano-engineered ink, with ions separating and migrating into high and low concentration, creating an electrical current flow.

Further reading:
STRATEGIC ELEMENTS GENERATES ELECTRICITY FROM MOISTURE

Picture: Strategic Elements