Friday, November 06, 2009

"Fluidic Energy" versus "EEstor"

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The Development
of a
Metal-Air Ionic Fluid
Super Battery


A cool looking young Professor Friesen

A company called “Fluidic Energy” is developing an Arizona State University research project and the main man behind the effort is Prof. Cody Friesen, professor of materials science at Arizona State Uni. In development essentially, AFAIK, are ionic fluid electrolytes for a special type of metal-air battery which would have much greater capacity than that of the very best lithium-ion batteries today.



"EEstor": 0 "Fluidic Energy": $5+million

Unlike EEstor, “Fluidic Energy” of Arizona has received a $5+ million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, which should help speed up the work no end!! Would you think that also makes a statement, or what, about EEstor??

“Fluidic Energy” is developing the rather unusual type of new battery called a metal-air ionic battery. Batteries generally have metallic electrodes immersed in an acid or some other water based electrolyte. Instead, this new type of cell will have a special liquid salt electrolyte.



Liquid Salts

Normally salts are solids / crystals at anything but very high temperatures, however these new salts are in the form of “ionic fluids” which will be liquid at ordinary room temperatures. These ionic fluids have several major advantages as electrolytes, they will not evaporate, and they will have very much higher energy density.

Here is the really interesting bit; Fluidic Energy is working on a battery that has 11 times more capacity than the same size of lithium-ion battery.

Say that again.

I said; “11 times more juice can be stuffed into this new type of battery”, and what that means is that an electric car with one of these batteries fitted could go for more than 1400km on a single charge, instead of the 140km or so of a current electric car.

Now that is not all of the interesting news either - more in the next post.




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