Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Researcher Daiwon Choi at Carnegie Mellon University with a test cell he and Dr. Prashant Kumta developed. The new technology will make batteries last longer and be more reliable.

By David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

People can feel helpless when their iPods, cell phones and laptop computers sap juice from batteries and die on the spot.

Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Prashant Kumta in his Wean Hall office on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University. Click photo for larger image.

So Carnegie Mellon University hopes to jolt the electronics industry, among others, with new technology that would make batteries last longer and electrical power more reliable.

Dr. Prashant Kumta, professor of materials science and biomedical engineering, said a team he heads has developed a new material to make electrochemical capacitors that can boost the power supply for everyday electronic devices and upgrade electric-automobile technology.

The team accomplished this with its new material that produces an electrochemical reaction that doubles power-storage capacity of current technology. The new material can hold lots of energy that can be charged and discharged quickly, important functions of modern-day capacitors.

Dr. Kumta said further development of the material could double once again the power-storage capacity of the new technology, which also is cheaper and more stable than capacitors presently in use.

"If you make this into a commercial product, this material could easily prolong the life of batteries," Dr. Kumta said. "Ours allows for stronger pulses that would protect rechargeable batteries."

The technology, he said, could power cars, camcorders, lawn mowers and even industrial backup power systems at airports.

"Right now we're pursuing funding to exploit this technology" and make it more powerful, he said.

The research team includes CMU graduate student Daiwon Choi and George Blomgren of Blomgren Consulting of Lakewood, Ohio, who is an adjunct professor at CMU.

Batteries are miniature chemical plants that produce electrical power at a fairly steady rate until the chemical process breaks down and the battery dies.

Capacitors serve as booster systems for batteries. They store and release energy quickly when bursts are necessary to power camera flashbulbs, equipment startups or acceleration, among other uses.

New-age capacitors used in electric vehicles are designed to capture energy produced when brakes are applied. Now, the technology is being applied to capture energy produced when backhoe buckets, cranes and elevators are lowered; that energy can be used to help power the equipment.

In conventional vehicles, such energy is lost. Dr. Kumta said the material -- made from the metallic compound, vanadium nitride, with a specially created surface of tiny crystals -- is ideally suited to capture and store such energy.

Dr. John R. Miller, an expert in electrochemical capacitors with JME Inc. of Shaker Heights, Ohio, said making industrial processes more efficient is a "hot area" in technology, and improving capacitors is key to making those advances.

"If you have good performance at a price comparable to that performance, we have a ready market for the product," he said, noting that the characteristics that Dr. Kumta is citing about his team's technology "would be significant."

Dr. Miller said such technology could be used in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles including transit buses and garbage trucks that make many stops and starts. During the stop, the capacitor collects energy it expends to help power the startup.

He also said technology such as that developed by CMU could serve as an important step in making electric cars more feasible. "Energy storage is a key element in this technology," Dr. Miller said.

The growing energy demand of modern-day computers and electronic devices has spawned the need for longer-lasting, more reliable power sources. When electronic devices require surges in power, the battery can be damaged.

Cell phones represent another power puzzle. People use them to make calls, watch movies, listen to music and process family photos. The CMU technology can deliver needed electrical power without draining or shocking the battery, Dr. Kumta said.

"Not only is vanadium nitride less expensive to use, it can also store energy much longer, giving users a greater burst of juice for the old finicky car battery or the hospital backup power system," he said.

Capacitors manufactured by Maxwell Technologies of San Diego use carbon powder, which is cheap and effective without incurring the high cost of ruthenium. Cost usually is key.

But a Maxwell Technologies spokesman said the company would like to learn more about Carnegie Mellon's creation.

"These researchers are certainly on the right track in looking for less-expensive materials, as cost is most often the determining factor in selecting a solution," spokesman Mike Sund said.

He said Maxwell officials monitor university research activities to assure they are current with the latest developments in energy-storage technology.

"We frequently agree to test materials to give researchers an industry perspective," he said.