Ensurge Micropower (OSE: ENSU, and OTCIQ: ENMPY), a leading provider of solid-state lithium microbatteries for a new generation of wearables and IoT devices, today announced it is engaged with multiple large multinational corporations as strategic partners and is actively working on providing the Ensurge microbattery unit cells to these partners for their evaluation. "We are excited to begin working with strategic partners to further expand the potential of our technology for transforming the billion-unit wearables, hearables and connected sensors market," said Kevin Barber, Ensurge Chief Executive Officer. Company expects to explore a range of possible strategic options with the partners including but not limited to licensing of the Ensurge technology, potential joint ventures, and equity investments.
Companies interested in strategic partnerships include large multinational corporations with market-leading products including consumer devices, electronic components and batteries. Ensurge expects the partnership discussions to proceed further once the partners have completed their evaluation of Ensurge's microbattery unit cells. The Ensurge unit cell is the core microbattery building block. It consists of cathode and electrolyte deposited on an ultrathin steel substrate using an established anode-less solid-state lithium chemistry. We expect shipment of these unit cells within weeks.
"Ensurge has achieved low impedance in anode-less all solid-state unit cells using LiPON as the electrolyte, something that the battery field has only conceptually demonstrated but not at the practical scale," said Shirley Meng, Ph.D., a leading battery expert, member of Ensurge's technical advisory board, professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. "This is exciting as Ensurge is well-positioned to bring the solid- state lithium chemistry to the IoT (1-100 mAh) market. Ensurge has also shown that this excellent performance can be achieved using a streamlined, roll-to- roll manufacturing process that does not require stringent environmental controls such as dry room conditions."
Low unit cell impedance is key to achieving high cycling and faster charging. Ensurge applied innovative interfacial engineering over these last several months achieving the target impedance that allows the company to move forward towards commercial battery production.
"Ensurge's latest tests also show that numerous key interfacial engineering breakthroughs have contributed to these performance results," Meng added. "Interfacial engineering is the difficult and arduous task of integration of various components that work efficiently and effectively together. Meng continued, "I believe that Ensurge's breakthroughs in interfacial engineering are generating knowledge that can be translated to large-scale all solid-state batteries."
Solid-state lithium technology has long been considered a candidate for giving small, connected devices longer operation on a single charge, faster recharging, greater processing power and extended periods of more frequent wireless connectivity without increasing their size. Recent Ensurge tests show how interfacial engineering advances are solving these challenges. As an example, Faster charging is a byproduct of the Ensurge unit cell's low impedance. Using a constant voltage charging method with simpler charging circuit, the Ensurge microbattery unit cells have demonstrated 2-3 times faster charging times compared to Lithium-Ion alternatives.
Demand continues to grow for Ensurge microbatteries that combine Ensurge's breakthrough unit-cell performance with its cell stacking, packaging and other innovations. Besides the five announced customers who have signed evaluation agreements, Company has added 12 new qualified leads during the last three months. These products in many cases have requirements that can only be met by the Ensurge microbattery. These companies are actively working with Ensurge and are ready to move forward with product development using the Ensurge microbattery.
We are excited about our growing customer pipeline representing hearables, wearables and connected sensors. We will inform the market as strategic partnerships develop and further commercial agreements are established.
About Ensurge Micropower
Ensurge is Energizing Innovation(TM) with the first ultrathin, flexible, reliable, and fundamentally safe solid-state lithium microbattery for the 1-100 milliampere-hour (mAh) class of wearable devices, connected sensors, and beyond. The innovative Ensurge Microbattery enables energy-dense rechargeable products that are ideal for form-factor-constrained applications including hearables (hearing aids and wireless headphones), digital and health wearables, sports and fitness devices, and IoT sensor solutions that use energy harvesting to power everyday things. The company's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, combines patented process technology and materials innovation with the scale of roll-to-roll production methods to bring the advantages of Ensurge technology to established and expanding markets.