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THINIKA, LLC FROM ULYANOVSK NANOCENTER PATENTS ITS THIN FILM POWER SOURCE

28 Jan 2020

Federal Service for Intellectual Property Rospatent has granted Thinika a patent for its invention of thin film solid-state electrochemical power source that can be referred to solid-state pseudocapacitors. Thinika is a startup company of Ulyanovsk nanocenter ULNANOTECH that is included into investment network of the Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs of RUSNANO Group. According to experts, the market for thin film microgeneration and energy storage systems will be booming in the next 5 - 10 years. While a number of sensors are substantially growing the production of rechargeable micro-batteries suitable for them remains in small quantity.



Thinika, having determined this niche and demand, has developed a new class of devices. The invention represents a “sandwich cake” of materials with mixed type of electron and lithium-ion conductivity. In other words, it is a hybrid of battery and capacitor combining their advantageous characteristics (so-called “pseudocapacitors”). Specific energy density of the device is several times greater compared to conventional electric double-layer capacitors, as well as high coulomb efficiency and ability to the extra quick charge keep them still close to the supercapacitors. In addition, pseudocapacitors maintain a good lifetime (large number of charge/discharge cycles) and shelf time. As consequence, such new all-solid-state thin film power source can be ideal for micro energy harvesting solutions.

Nowadays, micro energy sources and small energy harvesting solutions have very wide field of application — ranged from microelectronics to machinery manufacturing. They can be used as a power source in extreme low-energy devices: memory modules, miniature transmitters, sensors, medical devices, IoT devices. Unfortunately, the application of common power sources in the directions above is limited by their operating temperature and unsafe engineering. “Our pseudocapacitors are capable of operating in extreme temperature conditions from −50℃ to +150℃ and for now they have a record-breaking survival temperature from −150℃ to +250℃. Our testing results showed that their operating characteristics do not degrade in this range of temperatures, so they can be utilized even in the outer space. The R&D work in this project has been carried out by Comberry to Thinika’s order.” — said Andrey Redkin, CEO of Comberry.

Reference Information:

Thinika, LLC (Ulyanovsk, Russia) is a startup company, established by Ulyanovsk nanocenter ULNANOTECH to develop new generation thin film solid-state power sources production technology. The products developed by Thinika have unique characteristics unparalleled in the world, for instance the widest range of operational temperatures from −50℃ to +150℃.

Comberry, LLC (Ulyanovsk, Russia) is a Tech company, established in October 2013 by the nanocenters of Dubna, Ulyanovsk and Saransk in cooperation with Intermolecular, Inc. (San Jose, USA). Comberry performs applied scientific research in the field of multi-functional thin film materials, solid-state electrolytes and energy storage micro-devices. The nanocenters of Ulyanovsk, Saransk and Dubna are established by RUSNANO’s Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs.


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