Growing demand for zinc manganese dioxide

According to a newly released report from NanoMarkets, “Thin Film and Printed Battery Markets”, the value of the thin-film and printed battery market will reach $5.6 billion by 2015. Thin-film and printed batteries with their customizable shapes, flexible form factors and ultra-low weight are enabling new functionality to be added to a broad range of electronic products, such as smartcards, RFID and sensors both increasing their usefulness and the size of their addressable markets. The study predicts that printing will have a growing role in the next generation of smart batteries resulting in the growth in demand for zinc manganese dioxide or carbon zinc inks. The study also predicts that there will be a growing number of alternatives for the dominant LiPON electrolytes, with improved conductivity and thermal properties. While thin-film batteries using conventional lithium-based materials will remain the dominant factor, non lithium battery revenues will grow to $2.5 billion by 2015.kem