Strategic Elements Ltd (ASX:SOR) has been as much as 36.4% higher to A$0.15 in early trade after reporting multiple positive developments in Energy Ink™, with managing director Charles Murphy saying the technology is developing at a rapid rate.
Energy Ink is a new power source that generates electrical energy from moisture in the air. This technology targets the global multi-billion-dollar battery markets for wearable and IoT devices.
It has the ability to power electronics from humidity in the air, potentially removing the need for using current alkaline or lithium-based batteries that are potentially unsafe, utilise environmentally friendly materials or have rigid form factors that restrict them from use in flexible devices.
Development is partly being conducted under an Australian Research Council-funded collaboration between SOR and the University of NSW (UNSW).
This is significant as SOR has been registered by the Australian Federal Government as a Pooled Development Fund with a mandate to back Australian innovation.
This sees the company back leading Australian scientists and innovators in high-risk-high-reward ventures. SOR majority funds the initial development of each venture whilst seeking a major strategic investor/partner able to assist commercialisation.
SOR has recently delivered three key milestones with the development of Energy Ink including:
- A successful demonstration, which compared the power output of an Energy Ink battery, powered solely by moisture, to the baseline power consumed by a leading glucose-monitoring skin patch. The extremely thin, flexible, environmentally friendly Energy Ink battery generated more than 200% more power than required.
- Successful design and fabrication of programmable load simulators proved to increase the data available to the engineering team, speed up testing and drive optimisation of the technology. SOR has collected millions of data points for use in engineering, and to form a future databank for discussions with OEM manufacturers.
- Utilising data from programmable load simulators and other sources, a simple power management system was combined with Energy Ink technology for the first time. Initial testing revealed a more than 500% increase in power density or power per square centimetre. A smaller device (with power management) with one-quarter of the area was able to generate over five times the power output of the larger device (without power management) for the exact same load. Power management systems were proven to have the potential to dramatically increase the performance of an Energy Ink power solution.
“It was a fantastic result to clearly produce more than enough power compared to a leading existing glucose monitoring patch being used by millions of people worldwide and to have the excess potential for a manufacturer to include more advanced sensing or other features,” Murphy said.
“The thinness, flexibility, printability, safety and environmentally friendly aspects of the technology are all very attractive, however, it needs to produce enough power to be truly commercially useful. Hence, we are extremely pleased with the trajectory of the Energy Ink development.
“The sudden escalation in power per square centimetre from a rudimentary, very simple power management system has provided the team with great optimism for Q1, 2023 and what could potentially be achieved through this approach.”
Validating tech in glucose monitoring skin patches
SOR undertook a demonstration designed to measure the power output of the Energy Ink battery, compared with the baseline power consumed by a leading glucose-monitoring skin patch.
The idea was to validate the ability of the Energy Ink technology to power a similar glucose-monitoring device and examine how much more the Energy Ink device may be able to power. Up until recently the incorporation of more sensors and wireless technologies into skin patches has been limited by the size and capacity of the battery.
In trying to reframe this issue, SOR tested two different cell configurations together with simple power management on programmable load simulators designed to simulate the load of a leading skin patch device.
One test consisted of two 6x6 centimetre cells and one test with two 4x4 centimetre cells. Both tests were run continuously for one week and demonstrated a power output of 300% and 200% of the total power used by a leading skin patch device respectively.
This could be good news for the millions of people worldwide who use these types of devices to reduce the frequency of daily finger prick blood glucose checks and better manage glucose levels. Note, current testing kits are generally used for seven to 14 days before being disposed and more than 38 countries globally already provide reimbursement.
Another advantage would be less reliance on button/coin cell batteries associated with child safety issues. In 2022, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) ordered manufacturers/retailers to comply with strict new Australian mandatory safety and information standards.
Essentially, SOR is working to develop a device that can ride a global wave of popularity, while also being as inconspicuous as possible, providing more advanced sensing, keeping costs low, and being friendlier to the environment.
Energy Ink technology aligns with these goals and includes flexibility, thinness, and the ability to print various sizes whilst using environmentally friendly materials.
Optimisation and integration
SOR has set up an additional laboratory in Perth, with several electronic engineers from Stealth Technologies to lay a foundation for testing battery devices towards commercial and consumer device integration.
Programmable load simulators were successfully developed and after calibration against leading scientific test equipment were used with battery cells manufactured and shipped from the team at UNSW.
In the last quarter, SOR has built and used four load simulators and as it continues to unlock value through these simulators, it is planning to build and utilise additional simulators in the next quarter with the main aim of using the load simulator to collect data to help consider how to optimise device performance.
The potential value from this approach to device optimisation was validated through a test that revealed an over 500% increase in device power density or power per square centimetre. This was achieved using two 4x4 centimetre cells as a baseline and then adding engineered power management to two 2x2 centimetre cells.
The smaller device with one-quarter of the area was able to generate over five times the power output of the larger device for the exact same load.
Tapping into billion-dollar markets
While still in early development, the fundamental upper limit of aspects of the Energy Ink™ technology such as maximum power output, duration and energy density are unknown.
However, the potential is becoming more evident.
Printed graphene-oxide-based cells that generate energy from airborne water molecules have the potential to directly power a device, complement a battery by extending device life or provide energy for battery storage.
The global imperative for more innovative, renewable energy creation and power sources is expected to grow significantly. Electronic Skin Patches are currently a large US$10 billion market and is SOR’s near-term focus.
These products provide sports, health and other information from devices attached to the human body and currently use rigid alkaline batteries or those with lithium materials. The market for skin patches is forecast to grow to US$27 billion by 2033.
Significant development success by the team has opened a potential R&D pathway for larger-scale Energy Ink systems either through packs with multiple connected cells or larger cell sizes. Over a 14-day testing period, a pack previously successfully generated more than 2.4 Ah (2400 mAh) of charge.
Investigations into whether Energy Ink cells generate more electrical power as they increase in size have also been successful, with a single 100 square centimetre cell generating more than 1.4 Ah (1400 mAh) of electrical charge.
AAM has access to equipment that can print features as large as 3 square metres and SOR is designing a program of work that will significantly increase the cell size under development.
Further information on the program is expected in Q1, 2023.
100%-owned Australian Advanced Materials and UNSW recently signed an agreement for a $1.6 million federal government-funded project to develop a potential next-generation power source that can directly generate electricity from moisture in the air for wearable electronics.