Date
03/06/2015
PDF
At the upcoming International Battery Seminar and Exhibit, ZPower, the first developer of rechargeable, silver-zinc batteries for hearing aids, will present a paper about the company’s recent research to further enhance the electrode utilization and cycle life of its silver-zinc rechargeable button cell batteries. The International Battery Seminar and Exhibit will be held from March 9-12 at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.
Dr. Jeff Ortega, Director of Research for ZPower, will be on hand to discuss the outcome of his “Investigation of Silver Oxide Electrochemical Behavior to Improve Silver-Zinc Battery Rechargeability.” Details of the investigation are as follows: Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic cycling experiments were performed on silver thin films in conjunction with a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to identify the intermediate species and mass transport properties at the surface of a silver cathode in the presence of gelled aqueous electrolyte. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was then employed to characterize the physical effects from changing the discharge rates and the use of additives on the surface and in the electrolyte. The results were then utilized in silver-zinc rechargeable button cell batteries and tested for electrode utilization increase and cycle life improvement.
ZPower’s silver-zinc battery chemistry is ideal for microbattery applications such as hearing instruments and wearable technology.
The ZPower Rechargeable Solution for Hearing Aids will offer:
Full day of power with wireless and streaming products
Easy overnight charging
Excellent electroacoustic performance
No battery handling or hard-to-remove tabs
Only one battery needed per hearing aid per year
Interchangeable with traditional zinc-air batteries
Developed for multiple hearing aid products and models
In addition, ZPower silver-zinc rechargeable batteries are fully recyclable and mercury free. The solution offers a significant environmental benefit when compared to disposable hearing aids. Currently 1.4 billion disposable hearing aid batteries are dropped into the waste stream each year around the world.
