Nano-batteries spark big dreams
PRAGUE — A Czech company last week opened a production line for batteries based on nanotechnology, which uses tiny parts invisible to human eyes. The batteries are touted as potentially more efficient, longerlasting, cheaper, lighter and, above all, safer.
The automatic line will operate for several months to get all necessary certifications. Then, the Prague company HE3DA said it would be ready to launch other lines in a new plant built in eastern Czech Republic and at a factory in Slovakia.
Nanotechnology can increase the size and surface of batteries’ electrodes, making them spongelike so that they can absorb more energy during charging and ultimately increasing the energy storage capacity.
There’s an appetite for batteries that would hold more energy, last longer, be cheaper and safer — key for the development and success of many technologies, from solar and wind energy to electric cars.
Several ways are being explored by researchers around the globe on how to achieve that. Tesla Motors has also been building a “gigafactory” to produce conventional lithium-ion batteries for use in its electric cars and potentially to store electricity for homes.
HE3DA President Jan Prochazka said he was confident his invention provides a solution other current products can’t offer.
“We don’t want to compete with anyone on the market,” Prochazka said. “We’re building a new market.”
His battery is designed to store energy from renewable electric sources. The next planned type will be suitable for electric cars.
The price has not been set, but it is supposed to be about a half of the cost of current lithium batteries of the same capacity.