he University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign today announced it has entered into a licensing agreement with Xerion Advanced Battery Corp. under which Xerion has the exclusive right to bring the University’s StructurePore battery-charging technology to the market.
The StructurePore technology was developed by Paul Braun, Ph. D., of the Department of Materials, Science & Engineering at the University of Illinois, who is presently also an officer and director of Xerion. Dr. Braun and his colleagues believe that the StructurePore technology has the potential to, for example, instantly charge cell phone batteries and rapidly charge laptops and electric cars, all within a matter of several minutes.
Xerion and the University believe that the patented StructurePore battery technology will enable Xerion to develop a rechargeable battery with significantly higher electrical capacity than that which is presently available with ultra-fast charge / ultra-fast discharge capabilities. Recent research and preliminary testing has demonstrated to Xerion and its principals that the technology can function in both nickel metal hydride and lithium ion based batteries. Xerion intends to direct future development of the technology by utilizing higher power output chemistries. By focusing on these new electrode architectures, Dr. Braun and his Xerion colleagues believe that they may have found a way to greatly reduce the polarization effects of current batteries, thereby greatly increasing power and density. Xerion believes that the development of a new prototype battery will contain what Xerion has labeled as “superhighway-like” avenues for electrons and ions to move at ultra fast speeds while filling a charge and thus resulting in rapid battery charging capability.
Robert Zavala, CEO of Xerion, expressed the Company’s primary goal of developing delivery capabilities for rapid-charging batteries to our military, industry and consumers. The benefits to each sector are obvious. He specifically stressed the importance of making this technology available to the US Military as quickly as possible for use in overseas military activities and operations.
“Batteries are a huge concern for soldiers overseas,” Zavala said. “We have started general discussions with representatives of the U.S. Military services and the Department of Defense to ascertain their interest in using these batteries for military purposes. Xerion has received overwhelming encouragement from both.”
Zavala believes this technology has huge appeal for industrial and consumer electronics as well, and he said Xerion is “currently sourcing strategic commercial application relationships.”
This month, Xerion team members from Illinois, Colorado and Ohio will be moving into offices in the University of Illinois Research Park to collaborate with Dr. Braun on refinements to the technology. Xerion is head-quartered in metropolitan Denver, Colorado.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a world-class research institution boasting a respected faculty, high national rankings, and state-of-the art facilities. The University’s Office of Technology Management manages the intellectual property that results from the University’s groundbreaking research, ranging from software and physical sciences to healthcare and green technologies.
Xerion Advanced Battery Corp. is a Colorado based firm specializing in the development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced Nano-based technologies. Xerion Advanced Battery founders and management team are seasoned scientists, technologists and business management professionals who share the focused objective of researching, developing and delivering advanced Nano-science based innovations.
