More Related Content More from n-tech Research (20) Opportunities for Thin-film Batteries2. 2
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ABOUT THE REPORT
NanoMarkets has provided coverage on the thin-film and printed batteries market for six years and has
a deep understanding of what makes this market tick. During the period we have covered these power
sources, some of the firms in this space have made slow but steady progress both technically and in
terms of business development; a few of them are generating significant revenue. Other thin-film and
printed battery firms have quit the market.
What have changed are the markets that are being addressed by these batteries. When the thin-film
and printed battery business first appeared, the thought was that the main opportunity for them was
RFID. But RFIDs have not taken off in the way that many people hoped. By contrast, these “thin”
batteries have proved highly suited for powered smartcards, but for now this just a niche.
Now it seems that a new opportunity might be appearing in the form of the so-called “Internet-of-things,”
which promises ubiquitous sensors and other low-cost electronics. Such devices need to be powered
and “thin” batteries may be just the power source that the Internet-of-Things needs.
In this year’s report, NanoMarkets analyzes these emerging opportunities. We also discuss the latest
materials and design strategies being pursued by the thin-film and printed battery makers and assess
how successful they are likely to be in the marketplace.
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RELATED REPORTS
Printed Electronics Version 3.0: A Market Forecast
The Market for Sensors in the Internet-of-Things Market: 2013-to-2020
New Electrode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries - 2012
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BATTERY INDUSTRY
• Thin Film and Printed Battery Market is on the verge of new developments that will
expand its revenue potential
• Some of the emerging devices will require batteries that are especially thin, flexible,
lightweight, or created in non-standard shapes and sizes.
• New entries
©2014 NanoMarkets, LC
• In July 2013, Apple’s patent application
published the creation of flexible battery shape.
Apple
(U.S)
• In Oct 2013, it has succeeded in producing
batteries with different shapes.
• Started Mass-producing stepped and curve
batteries.
LG Chem
(South Korea)
• Filed a patent in 2013 for foldable battery.
• Describes a battery pack made up of “Foldable
cells”.
Nokia
(Finland)
6. MARKET SHIFTS IN THE BATTERY INDUSTRY
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Sensors:
Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are expected
to be integrated into the Internet-of-Things
As these sensors need to be tiny, flexible and
self-powered, thin batteries are the best fit
Wearable devices, medical devices and
building automation likely to provide
opportunities for battery-sensor integration
Cymbet, Solicore and Blue Spark Technologies
are targeting sensors market at present
.
Energy Harvesting:
Energy harvesting systems that can scavenge
energy from ambient sources are capable of
replacing thin batteries in sensors segment
Still for many applications, like PV cells, where
energy can only be harvested intermittently, thin
batteries will find a place
Current trend seems to favor symbiotic
partnerships between energy harvesters and
thin batteries or between thin batteries and
super capacitors depending upon the
application
OTP Cards:
Credit cards in financial sector, customer loyalty
and gift card in retail, smart card in healthcare
are areas where thin batteries will find their
application
Thin battery powered OTP cards are well
accepted in Asia and Europe but growth of OTP
cards is slow in markets like the US
OTP generation by mobile phone is a potential
threat to thin batteries powered OTP cards
Biometric Cards:
Biometric cards may be an area that might
create the biggest opportunity for thin batteries
Companies like Smart Metric (U.S), UINT
(France) and Mereal Biometrics (France) are
working in this area
These products are yet to be commercialized
and likely to come in the market by end of 2014
In case, OTP cards fails, success of thin
batteries will rely on biometric cards
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THIN BATTERIES: POTENTIAL MARKETS
©2014 NanoMarkets, LC
• MIMD:- Size and weight reduction
still a challenge for Implantable
Medical Devices, thin batteries will
definitely help in miniaturization
• Bio-compatible batteries for
medical implants another potential
market
• Real Time Clocks likely to be
another big market
• This segment is dominated by
traditional batteries and we do
not see much here for thin-film
batteries
• However, some recent trends in
interactive media likely to
generate demand for thin
batteries on a smaller scale
• Thin/printed batteries are likely to
find space in this segment
• Printed batteries likely to be
preferred than thin batteries
• Transdermal pharmaceutical and
cosmetic patched to be main target
of printed batteries
• Requires coordination between
battery manufacturers and pharma
firms
• Enfucell, solicore and Blue Spark
Technologies active in this segment
• Market exists for thin batteries
in packaging of perishable
goods
• TFE and Blue Spark to be
watched in this segment
• Intelligent pharmaceutical
packaging is another potential
market
• iMedBox, an intelligent and
interactive packaging solution
for pharma products developed
by KTH
Packaging
Industry
Medical
Disposable
New
Segments
Interactive
Media, Toys,
Games
8. IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES
• Focus of battery manufacturers towards simplifying manufacturing process to achieve
lower cost, necessary scale and quality
• Solicore’s digital printing is one such move that has helped it in achieving economies of
scale
• Other than production on large scale, customization of batteries to meet the specific
requirements of customers is another advantage of such processes
• Deposition processes and manufacturing at low temperature enables use of flexible
substrate and nano-composite coatings
• Motorola patented process for fabrication of thin-film batteries includes the deposition
of an electrolyte layer followed by selective laser pattering of the electrolyte
• Active participation of both thin-film battery manufacturers and process equipment
manufacturers being observed which is a positive development for the industry
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Lithium super ionic
conductors:-
Potential electrolyte candidate
for Thin batteries
Replacement of Ge by Sn in
this class of material is likely
to bring down the cost by a
factor of 3
Lithium lanthanum titanate,
another potential electrolyte for
thin batteries
Anodes:-
Both Silicon and Germanium
are being evaluated for their
use as anodes
Silicon looks attractive because
of its high lithium storage
capacity while Germanium is
preferred as it supports higher
charge/discharge rates
Research in related area is
going on in Stanford university
and XG Sciences
Cathodes:-
New chemistries and innovative
materials for cathode, key to
improving the flexibility, energy
storage and power generating
capacities of thin-film batteries
With these new materials,
batteries capable of meeting the
requirement of new generation
of smart gadgets and devices a
possibility
Flexible batteries:-
Researchers are investigating
the use of conjugated polymers
in cathode to make thin
batteries more flexible
As per researchers at Texas
and A & M university, charge
capacity of conjugated
polymers greatly exceeds
conventional cathode materials
used in Li-ion batteries
OPPORTUNITIES FOR MATERIAL SUPPLIERS
©2014 NanoMarkets, LC
10. THIN-FILM BATTERY FIRMS TO WATCH
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Firms Description
Cymbet
Enerchip, Cymbet’s brand for manufacturing and marketing chip batteries.
Targets a broad range of industries including telecom/networking, consumer
electronics, military/aerospace, transportation, wireless handheld, embedded
systems, computing and semiconductor related.
In semiconductor applications, Cymbet offers battery integrated to RTC clock
and it is also partnering with portable power manufacturers to market their
product.
At present, Cymbet, is the only company that offers bio-compatible batteries for
medical implants.
Solicore
More focused on printed thin-film batteries for smartcards.
Partnered with major smart card firms globally to drive growth of powered smart
cards market.
Other than smartcards, RFID and medical devices are the markets for which
Solicore has shown interest.
Digital printing process has enabled Solicore to upgrade its scale of production
and provide customized battery solution to its customers .
Blue Spark Technologies
RFID and temperature monitoring systems were first targets .
At present, sensors market the main target of Blue Spark Technologies battery
related products.
Recently, partnered with Trace Tech ID solutions to develop battery-assisted
passive(BAP) RFID temperature sensor solution
11. THIN-FILM BATTERY FIRMS TO WATCH
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Firms Description
Enfucell
Offers printed battery called “soft Battery” targetting RFID tags, micro sensors,
transdermal pharmaceutical and cosmetic patches, and functional packaging.
Recently partnered with Xymox Technologies for printing Enfucell’s softBattery
at their facility but do manufacture battery-assisted devices too.
Pragmatic Printing and Printed Electronics Limited (PEL) are other partners of
Enfucell from printed electronics industry.
Along with partners Pragmatic Printing and Printed Electronics Limited (PEL),
Enfucell has developed integrated printed electronics concept in business card
fomat.
Imprint Energy
A start up that has designed a new battery that can be screen printed and
consists of a Zinc anode, a solid polymer electrolyte, and a metal oxide cathode.
Making Zinc batteries rechargeable was a challenge which Imprint Energy’ is
trying to resolve through its battery solution.
Imprint Energy batteries are safer and have advantage to being more flexible
over Li-ion batteries, thus Imprint Energy batteries are more likely to accepted in
wearable devices segment .
In-Q-Tel, a strategic investment firm that supports mission of U.S Intelligence
community, has invested in Imprint Energy.
Lack of experience is the only disadvantage with Imprint Energy.
12. INVESTMENT TRENDS IN THIN-FILM/PRINTED BATTERY INDUSTRY
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In 2013, industry overall did
not see any major
investment save for Cymbet
and Solicore
In April, 2013, Cymbet
able to secure an
investment of $ 20
million equity deal from
Island Shore
Investments
Nov, 2013, Solicore able
to secure capital
investment of $ 4 million
from a new investor,
New Science Ventures
13. ROLE OF BUSINESS ECOSYSTEMS
Partnership with
various regional
firms
Cymbet partnered with
Taiwanese firm Opto-
Sensor to market its
product in China
Asia being an important
market for Cymbet’s
batteries, this move
seems to be going in
the right direction
Partnership with
energy-harvesting
firms
Symbiotic partnership
between battery firms
and energy-harvesting
firms seen as emerging
trend
Partnership between
Cymbet and Infinite
Power solutions to
penetrate wireless
sensors market is one
such example
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MARKET FORECAST FOR THIN-FILM AND PRINTED BATTERIES
©2014 NanoMarkets, LC
CAGR
is more
than
45%
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
$Millions
Wearables
Mobile phones
Semiconductor and Computer
Industry Applications
Medical Implants
Medical Disposables
Interactive Media, Toys, and
Games
Pharmaceutical Packaging
Food Packaging
Smart cards
Sensors and Sensor Networks
Major portion of
demand for thin
batteries is
likely to come
from mobile
phones
segment
Smart cards
and sensors
will continue to
generate
demand for
printed
batteries
Wearables
likely to be one
of the major
emerging
market for thin-
film batteries