ALTAIR SCORES BATTERY COUP

摘要

Face it. For a materials research company, Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. has had a checkered past. Originally begun as a mining concern, it seemed to stumble on nanomaterials as a sideline. Its funding came from people ordinarily associated with other pursuits in nearby Las Vegas. Its press releases promised great things that never quite seemed to come off. Yet somehow Altair has managed to move its nanoparticles forward. Most convincingly, it has signed a battery development deal with Alcoa AFL Automotive, a global (60 locations) business of Alcoa Inc. and one of the world's leading producers of electrical and electronic vehicle distribution systems. The agreement calls for Alcoa to integrate Altair's NanoSafe battery technology into a medium-duty hybrid truck. It covers design, development, and development of a prototype by early 2007. NanoSafe batteries are based on lithium titanate spinel nanoparticles.