Detroit Power

A new battery, developed by the Technion, was jump-started by Detroiters.

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ALAN ABRAMS

Special to the Jewish News

he Energizer bunny may
finally have met its match.
Thanks to funding by a
Detroit group of support-
ers of Technion - Israel Institute of
Technology, a revolutionary battery
has been developed by researchers at
the Haifa-based institution.
The new rechargeable "Super-Iron"
battery lasts nearly 50 percent longer
than standard alkaline batteries, and
is also environmentally friendly,
according to an article written by the
scientists in the August issue of the
journal Science.
From the outside, the new batter-
ies are indistinguishable from conven-
tional AA or AAA batteries. But it's
what inside that counts. The much-
greater energy generated by the super-
iron battery could eventually power
everything from CD players and
flashlights to cellular phones, laptop
computers and maybe even electric
cars.
A great deal of the funding for the
battery, produced by Professor Stuart
Licht of Technion's chemistry faculty,
came from the Detroit Chapter of the
American Society for Technion -
Israel Institute of Technology, said
Nancy Gad-Harf, the society's region-
al director.
The funding was raised by the
STAR (Support Technion Applied
Research) Committee co-chaired by

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Si:per-iron Battery, green & high energy

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-,Standard alkaline battery

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Super-iron

Detroiters Dr. Joseph N. Epel,
Albert Newman and Louis
Milgrom.
STAR was formed to pro-
-vide a bridge for scientists and
researchers to support ideas
that would have practical
applications in their fields of
endeavor.
The group is comprised of
32 members who have each
put up $25,000. The group lis-
tens to pitches from scientists
and chooses those programs it
wishes to support. "To date,
we have supported four pro-
grams, and two of them have
gone commercial, which is a
remarkable average," said Epel.
Unlike most grants that pro-
vide solely for basic research,
STAR is a bridging group
specifically enabling scientists
to do applied research. The
patent on the resulting inven-
tion is owned jointly by
STAR Committee members Beatrice and Dr.
Technion and the scientists. In Joseph N Epel of Detroit.
the case of the new batteries,
with their enormous world-
bringing light to nations in terms of
wide potential, that could result in
moral leadership and other applica-
large amounts of money flowing into
tions. Technology today is where it's
Technion's coffers for years to come.
at
all over the world. This one small
That would provide a tremendous
battery
will eventually turn on the
return on STAR's investment, Epel
light
for
a lot of people in the world
said.
if our expectations prove true. It
Larry Jackier of Detroit, the
shows how a little country like Israel
national president of the American
is capable of making great contribu-
Society for Technion, said the new
tions to the world."
battery is "part of Technion's role of
So how great is the commercial
potential for the invention? A
spokesman for battery-maker
T ' '
Duracell told the Wall Street Journal
CASE, CATHODE
POSITIVE
CURRENT
the company "has been in contact"
COVER
COLLECTOR
ELECTROLYTE
with the scientists, but there haven't
LABEL
AQUEOUS KOH
been any negotiations — yet.
*K. : ZINC PASTE
SUPER- I RCN t.
The new battery takes advantage of
ANODE
CATHODE
a high-energy form of iron that is
ANODE CURRENT
COLLECTOR
able to store more electrons than
existing batteries.
SEAL
SEPERATOR
One barrier to the previous use of
INNER COVER
iron in batteries was that it was
NEGATIVE
COVER
thought to be too unstable because it
3e -
rusted so quickly and was otherwise
Fe(Y1)+3/ZZn—>Fe(I11)+3/ZZn(Il)
highly prone to disintegration. But the

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9/17
1999

Detroit Jewish News

117