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 or battery.
Energy comes in ...
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. Objectives are resource conservation, climate protection and cost savings, while the users have per ...
. Altair Nantechnologies designs advanced
lithium-ion
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also sees ...
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 which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...
, produced by Altair's Power and Energy division. The batteries have an
anode
An anode is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the device. A common mnemonic is ...
made of a
lithium titanate
Lithium titanates are chemical compounds of lithium, titanium and oxygen. They are mixed oxides and belong to the titanates. The most important lithium titanates are:
* lithium titanate spinel, Li4Ti5O12 and the related compounds up to Li7Ti5O12 ...
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 , which means ''spine'' in reference to its pointed crystals.
Properties
S ...
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 Fulop. ...
generally replace the
cathode
A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. A conventional current describes the direction in whi ...
rather than the anode.
References
{{Reflist
External links
AltairNano
Battery manufacturers
Electric vehicle battery manufacturers