Flexible Batteries
Rocket Electric announced on March 4 that it had entered into a business agreement with IDT International, a company that specializes in the production of graphenes, to jointly develop flexible batteries. The deal would ensure a stable supply of high-quality graphenes for the electric company while also enabling it to take advantage of IDT’s technology. IDT is currently producing and supplying 1 kg of best-quality graphenes a month, and this year will expand its capacity to 600 kg a year.
Graphene, a carbon nanomaterial with one of the surface layers removed, is a next-generation electronics material and called “The New Dream Material” thanks to its heat conduction, light transmission, and flexibility. Its heat conduction is twice as high as diamonds, and electricity conduction is 100 times as high as coppers. The material also conducts electricity well, and its electric properties stay intact even with bending or folding, making it essential materials for applying flexible electromagnetism.
The two companies plan to advance commercialization of graphenes by working together to develop a technology for producing graphenes optimized for batteries. IDT currently holds 13 patents related to graphene manufacturing and application both at home and abroad, and from last year is supporting development of graphene applications (batteries, and textile materials) by companies and research institutes, both foreign and domestic.
One Rocket Electric official said, “Graphene batteries are fully charged after only a short period of time compared to the existing ones, and their capacity and efficiency improves,” adding “We plan to expand the scope of its applications to LED or special, heat-resistant materials by becoming a first-mover in the flexible battery market.” IDT official said, “Global secondary battery manufacturers are actively conducting R&D activities using IDT’s graphenes. Through joint R&D efforts with Rocket Electric, we will secure grapheme production technology optimized for batteries and commercialize graphene batteries.”