Technology

NEW BATTERY TECHNOLOGY - Power Technology, Inc. Has Developed Breakthrough Technology For A Power Current Collector Structure That Can Be Used To Build Superior Batteries With These Advantages:

Smaller Sizes, Less Weight, Increased Energy Density, Less Lead, More Environment Friendly, Faster Recharge Capabilities and Longer Life.

Power Technology batteries have a unique internal structure and electrochemistry. These features give the Power Battery significant advantages compared to conventional batteries, such as the common lead-acid automobile battery.

It is our mission to create environmentally friendly, inexpensive power sources for use by industry and individuals, including the creation of the ultimate battery, characterized by higher energy capacity, lighter weight, and minimal lead content - for a range of automotive, aerospace, power storage and other industrial and personal applications.

OUR BATTERY FEATURES

• Our current collectors have 4 times greater surface area than conventional solid lead current collectors.

  The capability of a battery is directly related to the surface area of its current collectors that is in contact with battery paste. Our technology increases the surface areas of the current collectors without compromising their strength or resistance to vibration, erosion and loss of material. Conventional lead-acid batteries typically use lead molded into a grid pattern as a current collector. The surface area of a conventional lead current collector is approximately 4.6 cm(2) per cm(3). Our battery employs a high specific surface area, 18 cm(2) per cm(3), open-cell, reticulated vitreous carbon electrode structure coated with a lead-tin alloy to advance the reliable lead-acid chemistries to new performance levels by significantly increasing the utilization efficiency of PAM. Reticulated Vitreous Carbon (RVC) -  is an electrically conductive, highly porous, rigid, open cell, pure carbon, foam structure with a high melting point, high chemical inertness, and low bulk thermal conductivity. RVC has an exceptionally high void volume (97%), a high surface area combined with self supporting rigidity, low resistance to fluid flow, an ability to hold infused materials, and superior resistance to very high temperatures in non-oxidizing environments. Our RVC grid offers up to four times higher effective surface area per unit volume as compared to a typical book-mould grid. A lead tin alloy is deposited by electrolysis on our pure carbon foam. In our current collector, the higher surface area and the shortened distance between the current collector wires and the active material particles, generate a higher utilization efficiency of the active material, which is a key parameter for the improvement of the lead-acid battery.

This photo compares our RVC current collector, with its significantly increased surface area, to a conventional battery's solid lead current collector grid.

• Our batteries are 30-50% smaller and lighter than conventional lead acid batteries - Our technology also increases the energy density for both the weight and size of the battery. The size of our battery is significantly reduced compared to a traditional lead-acid battery of the same amp-hour capacity.The weight per unit volume of the reticulated grid - depending on the lead-alloy coating thickness - can be as much as two to four times lower than for a conventional grid. Thus, significant savings in battery weight can be achieved. As a result of that, weight saving of Power Technology battery plates for equivalent power deliver is 40 to 50% lighter over today's lead-acid battery. Fewer and lighter plates mean the Power Technology battery is 30 to 50% smaller and lighter, compared to a regular lead-acid battery.
  
• Our batteries have 60-68% Positive Active Material (PAM) efficiency - compared to 30-40% for conventional batteries. In a lead acid battery, the Positive Active Material is the battery paste on the positive current collector that participates in the electrochemical charge/discharge reactions. Higher PAM efficiency is better.
• Our batteries have a long life - The cycle life of our battery was tested with deep cycle discharge protocol. Cycling results at a one hour discharge rate showed our battery lasted 700 discharge cycles before the battery failed and could no longer be recharged to 80% of its rated capacity.

• Our batteries recharge quickly. The amount to time required to fully recharge our battery is significantly less than conventional lead acid battery. AccelRate Power Systems Inc., formerly Key Capital Group, (www.keycapital.net) manufactures battery chargers and tested our prototype battery. AccelRate reported that with its battery charger, our battery can be fully recharged in 2.5 hours compared to a conventional lead-acid battery that takes 6-8 hours and that there was an insignificant temperature rise when our battery was charged. A conventional lead-acid battery has a significant temperature rise under charge.

• Our batteries are environment friendly - They use significantly less lead then typical lead-acid batteries.

For a detailed technical discussion of our technology, CLICK HERE to read the Journal of Power Sources, peer reviewed, scientific article : "Electroplated reticulated vitreous carbon current collectors for lead-acid batteries: opportunities and challenges"

INDEPENDENT TEST RESULTS

Our preliminary prototype batteries were independently tested by B C Research, Inc of Vancouver Canada, by the Long-Yuan Shuang-Deng battery company of China and by the Catella Generics Centre of Battery Technology ("Catella') in Sweden.

The test report from Long-Yuan Shuang-Deng battery manufacture states that the positive active material utilization efficiency of our battery was 63% as compared to the conventional lead acid battery's 35%.

The Catella report concluded that our battery gives improved properties to lead-acid batteries. Catella's report says:

"The electrochemical utilization of the paste mass is considerably improved with the reticulated structure plates in lead-acid batteries. We have recorded an increase in the area specific capacity withdrawn by about 90 % in the current range 3 to 100 mA/cm(2). The plate weight is lower, by 20-25% for the positive and 45-50% for the negative, and the area larger, by about 30% for the positive as well as the negative, for the conventional plates used for comparison."

The following table shows part of the data summary in Catella test report. The test was to compare the performance of Power Technology's reticulated plates and conventional lead-acid battery grids. The test was carried out with single two volt cell arrangement which comprising two negative plates and one positive. Single cell testing is a common practice used by battery manufactures in the research stage for concept proofing and prototype testing.

Power Technology owns patented battery technology. Our technology has the potential to replace standard lead-acid deep cycle batteries.

The battery technology has passed from the proof of principle stage to prototype development and testing stages.

Numerous applications exist for this advanced battery technology.

The Company has multiple avenues to pursue to develop, commercialize and profit from this technology. These include: In house development, licensing rights to develop specific applications, joint venture partnerships to accelerate commercialization, selling patents and applications of the technology.

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