IEEE Nanotechnology Conference – Energy and Batteries
By Pallab Chatterjee
May 18, 2010 – Santa Clara, CA. At today’s 6th annual Nanotechnology conference, the focus was on the directions for research and new applications for nanotechnology materials. Although the majority of the sessions were focused on NanoBio and NanoMedicine, there were several presentations on power that were related to the entertainment industry. Thomas Daue from Smart Materials Corporation gave a presentation on energy harvesting using piezo-electric composite materials. the materials create charge from the strain and deformation of the material and have a long life cycle of 10¹¹ deformations. Unlike the older p[iezo materiala which needed larger point deformation mounts, the new composites can simply be glued/attached tot he flat surface that is being moved (shaken, accelerated, tipped) and it will create the charge to be captured in the system. This makes the technology applicable , in combination with a super cap, as the sensor power for cell phones or game controllers removing the additional power burden from the battery. This will help enable the mobile gaming environment and still allow the mobile handset to have its “phone” functionality.
A second presentation from Joe Fisher from Contour Energy discussed new primary and secondary battery technology. The new batteries are based on carbon nanotubes and nanofibers in combination with Flouride making new CFx cells. These cells have both a longer power factor and mAHr rating than Lithium batteries, but they also support higher peak power drains. The long operating times and power levels are the main reason that 8 of 10 manufacturers of 3D shutter glasses for home 3D TVs are using the new CFx button cells. These can also power other high drain devices such as multi-room remotes and portable electronics such as handheld smart phones, tablet computers and gaming handsets.
These new technologies will help enable the power ans size factors needed to agressively push the adoption of the mobile platform for computing, social networking and gaming.
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