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Oak Ridge Micro-Energy Develops High Temperature Battery

May 17, 2006 by Jeff Shepard

Oak Ridge Micro-Energy Inc. (OTCBB:OKME), a developer and producer of thin film rechargeable lithium and lithium-ion batteries, has announced the development of a new rechargeable thin film lithium-ion battery that can operate at high temperatures.

Based on a new anode-cathode combination (the active battery components), the company's prototype lithium-ion batteries were cycled at a record high temperature of 170 degrees Celsius (338 degrees Fahrenheit). Conventional rechargeable lithium-ion batteries cannot be cycled at temperatures much above 60 degrees Celsius. Currently, most batteries operate best at room temperature. Operating batteries at high temperatures dramatically decreases the performance and the life of the battery. The Oak Ridge thin film battery can not only operate at high temperatures, but can be recharged and has only a very minor decrease in performance over time at high temperatures.

According to Mark Meriwether, President and CEO, "We have made good progress in achieving our goal to develop a battery that can be cycled at temperatures of 150 degrees Celsius or above. This battery could open up many new markets for our thin film batteries in diverse areas such as downhole and other sensors that operate in harsh environments, backup of high temperature non-volatile memory, and semiconductor diagnostic wafers."