DuPont claims that its Energain battery separators can increase power 15% to 30%, increase battery life by up to 20% and improve battery safety by providing stability at high temperatures.
Thomas Powell, president of DuPont, said: “DuPont Energain is a breakthrough platform technology. We expect to translate the improvements we’ve seen in automotive battery applications to deliver equal or better battery performance in specialty consumer electronics, where reliable, faster and longer lasting battery power are essential.”
The company said that, by 2015, the market for high-performance lithium ion batteries alone will total more than $7bn annually, primarily for electric vehicle applications and some photovoltaic and grid storage.
Typical hybrid vehicles contain between 50 and 70 batteries; plug-in electric vehicles with range-extending motors have 80 to more than 200 batteries; and fully electric vehicles carry 150 or more. Within each battery, the separator is a sheet positioned between the two electrodes. It functions as a barrier that prevents the electrodes from touching and shorting while letting lithium ions pass back and forth to allow the charge and discharge of the battery.
Dupont Energain battery separators are produced into a web using a proprietary spinning process that creates continuous filaments with diameters between 200nm and 1,000nm. The separators exhibit stability and low shrinkage in high temperatures and are highly saturable in electrolyte liquids.
