Inmatech Secures NSF Research Funding for Phase I of Next Generation Supercapacitor Development

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Ann Arbor, Michigan — December 1, 2011 — Inmatech, an emerging company dedicated to developing and bringing the next generation supercapacitors to market, announced today its achievement of winning critical research grant funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The initial Phase I research projects will be completed by July 2012.

The two NSF grant installments, awarded in June and December 2011, total approximately $300,000. The funds are directed toward additional supercapacitor prototypes using a new combination of materials and processes to generate higher energy density devices at a lower cost.

Inmatech discovered superior performance and lower cost in the combination usage of base metal nitrides and oxides tailored to give high specific capacitance, in aqueous electrolytes. The result is the ability to generate safe (non-flammable), efficient high power cycling.

Inmatech’s next generation supercapacitor also can support a transition from electricity produced from fossil fuels to carbon neutral electricity, thus reducing our nation’s production of greenhouse gases and dependence on foreign energy sources.

In order to gain broader market acceptance of its next generation supercapacitor, Inmatech must prove that its invention can enhance the energy density by a factor of three. The power-level generated by the use of lower cost materials could result in application costs as much as ten times lower than the current available commercial devices.

A few examples of commercial market applications for the next generation supercapacitor include hybrid electric vehicles (for powering start-up, acceleration and braking), memory back-up in mobile phones, and uninterruptible power supplies.

Inmatech’s team — led by Co-Founders Professor Levi Thompson, Dr. Saemin Choi, Dr. Paul Rasmussen and Dr. Stefan Heinemann — formed through the University of Michigan, where they work, teach, invent and collaborate. The U-M Office of Technology Transfer helps Inmatech leverage the commercial potential of our innovation, by licensing the product, attracting investment and actively moving it from lab to commercial marketplace.

This project will give students at the University of Michigan an opportunity to participate in a commercialization effort.

 

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