Altairnano is the first company to replace traditional graphite materials used in conventional lithium-ion batteries with a proprietary, nanostructured lithium-titanate.
Establishing a research program in 2000 to develop lithium-ion cell technology for power-dependent applications, Altairnano set about to solve the limitations associated with conventional lithium-ion technologies, including cycle and calendar life, safety, recharge time, power delivery and ability to operate in extreme temperatures.
Altairnano’s research into the electrochemistry of battery materials discovered that nanostructured lithium-titanate, when used to replace graphite in conventional lithium-ion batteries, results in distinctive performance attributes required by power-dependent energy storage applications.
This fundamental breakthrough in battery technology was announced by Altairnano in February 2005 and has since been used as the core technology in the development of the company’s advanced energy storage and battery systems.
Altairnano’s advanced energy storage systems provide fundamental advantages over existing, traditional lithium-ion battery designs.
The use of nanostructured lithium-titanate in Altairnano’s cell technology produces distinctive performance attributes, including extremely fast charge and discharge rates, the industry’s highest round-trip efficiencies, long cycle life, safety and the ability to operate under diverse environmental and extreme temperature conditions.
Altairnano has achieved a high-powered energy storage and battery system that has significantly greater thermal stability than any other lithium-ion battery in the market. By removing the highly reactive graphite from the system design, and instead using nanostructured lithium-titanate materials as the negative electrode material, no significant interaction takes place with the electrolyte.
The wide thermal operating range of Altairnano’s energy storage and battery systems is ideal for applications in remote, severe or unusually challenging environments where physical movement, corrosion, temperature extremes or electrical circuit complexity make the use of traditional lithium-ion batteries nearly impossible.
Long Cycle Life
Conventional lithium-ion batteries can typically be charged about 1,000 times before they are considered no longer useful. In laboratory testing, the Altairnano energy storage and battery systems have achieved over 16,000 charge and discharge cycles at rates up to 40 times greater than common batteries and still retained up to 80 percent of initial charge capacity.
Altairnano’s energy storage and battery systems deliver power per unit weight and unit volume several times greater than conventional lithium-ion batteries. Cell measurements performed with high-powered cell designs indicate specific power as high as 4000 W/kg and power density over 7,500 W/litre. By using nano-structured lithium-titanate as the negative electrode material, the formation of a Solid-Electrolyte Interphase – an electrochemical property that impedes the removal of lithium, which is the first step in power production – is eliminated.