EEbeat

Contour Energy Systems, (formerly CFX Battery) a portable power company commercializing next-generation battery systems, is coming out of stealth mode to unveil its breakthrough advancements in new fluorine-based battery chemistries, nanomaterials science and manufacturing processes that will reshape portable power above and beyond competing lithium-ion systems.

A spinoff of the collaboration between CalTech and CNRS, the French National Center for Scientific Research, Contour Energy Systems is commercializing and licensing portions of its IP portfolio. Contour’s technology targets a wide range of portable power applications spanning the transportation, government and defense, medical, industrial, portable electronics and specialty application markets. Amassing a portfolio of over 60 patented and patent-pending technologies, the company is commercializing advanced primary and next-generation rechargeable battery systems in multiple form factors. The battery cells and battery packs being designed with Contour’s technology are said to achieve unprecedented levels of performance with higher power and energy densities, extended service life, and uninterrupted operation under extreme temperature conditions.
Contour’s carbon fluoride battery chemistry will be applied initially to advanced primary batteries in coin cell, cylindrical, thin film and prismatic form factors. The company says these battery systems will deliver superior price/performance across a wide range of diverse applications, including tire pressure monitoring systems, automated internal and external defibrillators, unmanned aerial vehicles, military radios, water and gas meters, bone growth stimulators, and more.
The carbon fluoride battery technology uses a proprietary process for introducing fluorine into the nano-carbon material that provides a fundamentally different atomic structure than traditional carbon fluoride materials. This new structure, coupled with the use of new nanomaterials, affords significant advantages over all existing battery types, including substantial increases in energy and power densities, reliable operation under extreme conditions, an extended shelf life and avoidance of overheating, any of which can be optimized for specific applications.
Contour Energy’s carbon fluoride chemistry can be customized during key steps in the manufacturing process to alter the cathode’s physical structure at the atomic level. This Tunable Cathode also plays a pivotal role in providing customers with batteries featuring an optimal combination of higher energy and/or power densities, and discharge rates. This affords Contour Energy a significant competitive advantage because every application has unique operating needs that cannot be satisfied fully by off-the-shelf batteries.

Paul O’Shea