Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. is an American company specializing in the development and manufacturing of
energy storage
Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an Accumulator (energy), accumulator or Batte ...
systems for efficient power and
energy management
Energy management includes planning and operation of energy production and energy consumption units as well as energy distribution and storage. Energy management is performed via Energy Management Systems (EMS), which are designed with hardware ...
. Altair Nantechnologies designs advanced
lithium-ion
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible Intercalation (chemistry), intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically Electrical conductor, conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are c ...
energy systems and batteries.
Battery technology
Altairnano's best-known product are their
lithium-ion batteries
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy ...
, produced by Altair's Power and Energy division. The batteries have an
anode
An anode usually is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, which is usually an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the devic ...
made of a
lithium titanate oxide formed into a
spinel
Spinel () is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula in the cubic crystal system. Its name comes from the Latin word , a diminutive form of ''spine,'' in reference to its pointed crystals.
Prop ...
structure. The titanate replaces the graphite anodes of typical lithium-ion batteries. The batteries are not the only batteries to use nanomaterials, but other batteries, like those from
A123 Systems
A123 Systems, LLC, a subsidiary of the Chinese Wanxiang Group Holdings, is a developer and manufacturer of lithium iron phosphate batteries and energy storage systems.
The company was founded in 2001 by Yet-Ming Chiang, Bart Riley, and Ric Fu ...
generally replace the
cathode
A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device such as a lead-acid battery. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. Conventional curren ...
rather than the anode.
References
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External links
AltairNano
Battery manufacturers
Electric vehicle battery manufacturers