Christine Ho created a donut-shaped battery — but she has a good reason. The founder of California-based startup Imprint Energy wants to demonstrate that her chemistry can be used to make batteries in any shape a customer may require. That’s just one of the ways Imprint emphasizes versatility as crucial to the future of the battery business.
Today, the batteries that power most of our electronic devices and electric cars rely on lithium-ion chemicals. While it’s well-suited to storing a lot of energy in a small space, that chemical also has two downsides: Lithium-ion batteries are still quite expensive, and if not used properly, they can catch fire. . Lake, Who began his career in batteries as an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, realizing that there was room for substitute chemistries in emerging applications, especially small devices. Internet connection is often referred to as the “internet of things”.
You can listen to the dialogue with Ho on the Zero audio files below and read the transcript of the episode here. To update new episodes, subscribe to Zero on Apple Podcasts, Spotify And Google.
One such application, which is rapidly gaining popularity, is the use of “smart labels” that can be affixed to packages or shipping boxes, containing a small battery and transponder to help track the package. from far away. Smart labels offer three advantages. Customers are happier knowing where their goods are. Companies, especially those in the pharmaceutical and food sectors, save money by better managing the delivery process and cutting fuel use and waste, which can account for up to 40% of total production. And the planet benefits from fewer planet-warming emissions.
To find the right battery solution for such applications, Ho started with disposable AA or AAA batteries, using zinc and manganese chemistry. These batteries are hard-celled because they are filled with a toxic liquid that can leak out if left unsealed in a metal container. The liquid, called an electrolyte, is needed to trigger a chemical reaction that produces electricity.
The alternative was to develop a solid electrolyte, and that invention became the basis of Imprint Energy in 2010. Eliminating the need for liquids also enabled new battery shapes and sizes. . “They are very flexible,” Ho said while bending a battery during a tour of Imprint’s Alameda-based factory. “There is an infinite demand for better, safer and more efficient batteries.”
Over the past decade, Imprint has been perfecting its lean chemistry and manufacturing processes. The factory floor in Alameda isn’t bigger than your average classroom, and that’s because, as the startup’s name suggests, the batteries are 3D printed (or, technically, screen printed with stencils). The process is just a little more complicated than seeing a piece of white paper emerge with letters printed on it.
Imprint’s batteries are being tested by Sensos, a sony The company produces smart labels to track pharmaceuticals and plant seeds. That label uses a cell phone connection. Another experiment was with Renesas, which uses bluetooth sensors to track food shipments from farm to retailer. To date, the startup has raised $25 million from investors including Phoenix Venture Partners and Global Value Portfolio.
Imprint’s smart labels currently cost between $5 and $10 per unit depending on whether you’re using a bluetooth or cellular connection. On a commercial scale, Ho said each should cost between $0.25 and $5, which would make them attractive for tracking the shipping of both cheap and expensive goods.
Although Ho is looking to raise more money, she says Imprint will not build its own battery factories. That’s because the larger manufacturers already have the equipment to print batteries; all Imprint needs to do is ship the materials and those manufacturers will get the job done. Each manufacturer in Mexico and China produced Imprint batteries.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. “It’s been over 10 years,” Ho says of the time since Imprint’s founding. “Every day is a difficult day. But scaling is really hard.”
