|
|
Drs Michael Liu and Simon Hall, Chris Officer, Dr Gavin Clark and Professor
Nigel Long.
Battery commercialisation deal signed
Intellectual property developed by researchers
in the Institute of Fundamental Sciences is about to revolutionise
the $200 billion global battery market.
The University has just signed its biggest commercialisation deal yet
with United States-based company Anzode Inc. to take a revolutionary
zinc battery technology, developed by Dr Simon Hall and Dr Michael
Liu, working in the Nanomaterials Research Centre, to the international
market. Dr Hall is also a Principal Investigator in the MacDiarmid
Insititue for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.
The deal was signed last week by Professor Nigel Long, Assistant Vice-Chancellor – Research,
and Anzode chief executive Chris Officer.
Massey has granted Anzode an exclusive global licence to the zinc battery
technology, which has been patented in more than 30 countries and territories,
at a cost of more than US$100,000, paid for by Anzode. Already the
battery has attracted interest from the US military, a major US consumer
electronics firm and the world’s largest manufacturer of electronic
components for cellphones and laptops, among others. Mr Officer says
Anzode has an aggressive strategy of taking this IP to the global market
as quickly as possible.
An important part of the deal is the establishment of a new research
centre at the Palmerston North campus. The Massey Anzode Research Centre
will open the way for the University to become the global centre for
electro chemistry, says Mr Officer. Drs Hall and Liu will move on to
the payroll of the soon-to-be established centre.
The technology they developed provides the platform to achieve Mr Officer’s
vision. The silver-zinc battery technology they created lasts four
times longer than existing silver-zinc batteries, and their nickel-zinc
version lasts two-and-a-half times longer than nickel metal hydride
batteries and four times longer than lead-acid batteries. For 200 years
zinc has been recognised as an ideal metal on which to base a battery
because it is cheap, easily mined and efficient. But it’s unstable
and zinc batteries developed to date have short lives, quickly shorting
out.
Where other developers have cluttered their zinc cells with everything
from plastic to carbon to prevent the instability, Drs Hall and Liu
took a typical Kiwi approach and stripped out the clutter. Instead
of trying to treat the symptoms they looked at the root cause of the
problem and developed a zinc electrode that was stable, didn’t
change shape or short out. The project has been supported for the past
18 months by a Foundation for Research, Science and Technology New & Emerging
Energies Technology grant.
Mr Officer says the technology is very attractive to investors. “We’ve
got a market-ready product. It doesn’t require further research.
It’s not IT, it’s fundamental chemistry and it’s
a battery. An everyday basic that powers nations.”
Mr Officer established Anzode (a play on Zn and anode, but also “A
NZ ode”) with another Massey alumnus, Howard Moore, and a third
director. The incorporated company is backed by a band of New Zealand,
Australian and American angel investors.
Director of Commercialisation Dr Gavin Clark sees the deal as an exciting
model for University-industry interaction. “The global Kiwi network
was a key factor. Goodwill, trust and a shared interest in New Zealand
have been vital ingredients,” he says. “It may seem unusual
to base the new company headquarters in the United States and not New
Zealand, but this was driven by the financing and business needs: in
short, it couldn’t have happened the other way round. To make
it work Massey took a flexible approach, allowing the academic inventors
leave of absence to pursue commercial objectives as employees of Anzode
within the new Massey Anzode Research Centre.”
The University will benefit immediately from the US dollars invested
by Anzode in the new Massey Anzode Research Centre. Significant financial
returns may follow in the future from milestone payments and royalties
on battery sales.
The deal opens a new route for commercialisation at the University,
says Dr Clark.
|
