EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Soonyong Park, Energy Analyst, Delta Team, November 24, 2009

Betting on a Metal-Air Battery Breakthrough

This research investigates the economic and powerful developing a metal-air battery from Arizona
State University. Specifically, I examine two strengths:

1. The company aims to build a Metal-Air Ionic Liquid battery that has up to 11 times the energy
density of the top lithium-ion technologies for less than one-third the cost.

2. Fluidic Energy has developed an electrode scaffold with multi-model porosity, meaning it has
a range of pore size down to as small as 10 nanometers. The scaffold surrounds the metal, in
this case zinc, and can prevent dendrites that from during.

In the early 1980s, U.S. Air Force Academy experimented with ionic liquids. There were two big
problems. The water in the electrolyte could evaporate, causing the batteries to prematurely fail. Also,
Water began to decompose when the cell exceeds 1.23 volts. Metal-air batteries typically rely on
water-based electrolytes, but these liquids are not volatile, evaporate. They are physically stable and
conduct electricity fairly well.

The U.S Department of Energy last week awarded a $5.13-million research grant to Scottsdale,
Arizona State University-based Fluidic Energy toward development of a metal-air battery. These
liquids have electrochemical stability windows of up to five volts, so it allows going to much more
energy-dense metals than zinc.

This investigation finds that energy storage would no longer be a limiting factor for renewable
energy, and electric vehicles that could travel 400 to 500 miles on a single charge.

Furthermore, this company will target energy densities of at least 900 watt-hours per kilogram and up
to 1,600 watt-hours per kilogram in the DOE-funded project.

The findings of this reports forwards two recommendations:

✔ Change and innovate the battery & energy market

✔ Renewable and efficient technology will effect on subsidiary developments

Key World: Metal-Air ionic liquid battery, lithium-ion technologies, electrode scaffold, rely on
water-based electrolytes, electrochemical stability, energy-dense metals than zinc, DOE-
funded project