new formula AG/ZN battery to double energy reduce size Silver oxide – for nearly a century it has powered performance batteries in items as small as a wrist watch and as large as a submarine. Over the years, and with rising silver prices it lost its luster and had to make room for cheaper substitutes in many applications. Recently, however, there have been technical developments suggesting it may make its return in a new way.
This week’s “Tech Metals Insider” guest is Ron Dueber, president of Z-Power of Camarillo, CA. Z-Power produces silver-zinc batteries. What is so special about Z-Power batteries?
“A traditional silver oxide battery is non-rechargeable.”, explained Dueber. “It uses only one portion of the energy that is available to the silver side of the equation which is is Ag2O. With our technology we charge silver to a higher capacity in the AgO stage. We take advantage of the ability to double the amount of energy that silver can provide. A much longer life cycle, 10-15% weight reduction and 50% volume reduction compared to lithium-ion are the results.”
Z-Power’s process is based on patents and trade secrets; it uses silver oxide in combination with a special nanoparticle membrane. The technology expands the range of possible applications of silver-zinc batteries from large format batteries used in military and aerospace applications today.
“Rechargeable silver-zinc batteries have been out there for many decades and we do not claim to have invented the technology as such. But we have taken it and made it usable in small format batteries where it lends itself to applications where lithium-ion technology cannot accommodate the small sizes.”
At this point, hearing aids are the main market Z-Power is targeting. Their aim is provide at least 50% of all rechargeable hearing aid batteries worldwide over the next 5-10 years. The price of silver prevents Z-Power to expand into cellphones or laptops / tablets despite the material’s significant advantages. “We are focusing primarily on premium applications for this reason”, explained Dueber, “on-body power, devices in the medical and health sector, biometry, telemetry and sports”.
What would it take to make the technology usable for more mainstream applications? “A robust recycling program is needed to recover the precious metals. Beyond the technology factor buying and recycling the silver is a key challenge.”