Comberry together with the ULNANOTECH nanocenter and a major Russian manufacturer of translucent structures PHOTOTECH signs an agreement to create pilot production of electrochromic glass

Under the agreement it is anticipated to implement a joint investment project to create pilot production of electrochromic glass based on PHOTOTECH’s production facilities using the low-cost electrochromic glass production technology TUNOX developed by Comberry.

TUNOX electrochromic materials have an extended color range — shades of blue, gray, black, etc. The use of unique patented technologies in the TUNOX materials system solves many difficulties in the production and operation of electrochromic glass: the technical and consumer characteristics of darkened glass are significantly improved; manufacturing becomes more flexible and cheaper.

The project implementation period is 3 years. The total investment volume is about 300 million rubles.

«Comberry have received a sustainable technology for the production of electrochromic glass for architectural applications and now we are working on the electrochromic glass for automotive industry. Our development is a laboratory technology, but it meets all characteristics presented by the world’s largest glass manufacturers to such a technology. In order to increase the technology maturity stage and release the product to the world market, the next reasonable stage for us is the transition to the creation of pilot production.  Today, less than 10 companies in the world have such a product.  We claim to become one of such companies. To do this, we are going into partnership with one of the largest players in the Russian glass market – the PHOTOTECH company. In such cooperation, we have a unique opportunity to quickly achieve a result and release the product to the world market. PHOTOTECH is a professional team that has the equipment and experience necessary to create electrochromic glass production», said Andrey Redkin, CEO of Comberry.

Ivan Filonenko, Development Director of PHOTOTECH has stated that for the company this is a serious and crucial point towards creating an easy producible and scalable product. “Such a project will require all the knowledge and experience of our team, we are ready for this and believe in success. The business model of the project will allow us to develop rapidly in the international market in a niche where we will be exceptionally competitive. At the same time, export is one of the important strategic priorities of our group of companies today.”

PHOTOTECH (Moscow) is a high-volume domestic enterprise that for more than 30 years has been specializing in the design, manufacture and installation of fire-protective translucent structures with unique protective, decorative and special properties. PHOTOTECH is able to manufacture a product at competitive price and quality at the level of world leading manufacturers.

Comberry (Ulyanovsk) is a technology platform, established in 2013 by the nanocenters of Ulyanovsk, Republic of Mordovia and Dubna. Comberry holds a portfolio of unique scientific developments in the field of multifunctional thin-film coatings.Member of Skolkovo since 2015.

Federal Service for Intellectual Property Rospatent has granted Thinika a patent for its invention of thin film solid-state electrochemical power source that can be referred to solid-state pseudocapacitors. Thinika is a startup company of Ulyanovsk nanocenter ULNANOTECH that is included into investment network of the Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs of RUSNANO Group. According to experts, the market for thin film microgeneration and energy storage systems will be booming in the next 5 - 10 years. While a number of sensors are substantially growing the production of rechargeable micro-batteries suitable for them remains in small quantity.

Thinika, having determined this niche and demand, has developed a new class of devices. The invention represents a “sandwich cake” of materials with mixed type of electron and lithium-ion conductivity. In other words, it is a hybrid of battery and capacitor combining their advantageous characteristics (so-called “pseudocapacitors”). Specific energy density of the device is several times greater compared to conventional electric double-layer capacitors, as well as high coulomb efficiency and ability to the extra quick charge keep them still close to the supercapacitors. In addition, pseudocapacitors maintain a good lifetime (large number of charge/discharge cycles) and shelf time. As consequence, such new all-solid-state thin film power source can be ideal for micro energy harvesting solutions.

Nowadays, micro energy sources and small energy harvesting solutions have very wide field of application — ranged from microelectronics to machinery manufacturing. They can be used as a power source in extreme low-energy devices: memory modules, miniature transmitters, sensors, medical devices, IoT devices. Unfortunately, the application of common power sources in the directions above is limited by their operating temperature and unsafe engineering. “Our pseudocapacitors are capable of operating in extreme temperature conditions from −50℃ to +150℃ and for now they have a record-breaking survival temperature from −150℃ to +250℃. Our testing results showed that their operating characteristics do not degrade in this range of temperatures, so they can be utilized even in the outer space. The R&D work in this project has been carried out by Comberry to Thinika’s order.” — said Andrey Redkin, CEO of Comberry.

Reference Information:

Thinika, LLC (Ulyanovsk, Russia) is a startup company, established by Ulyanovsk nanocenter ULNANOTECH to develop new generation thin film solid-state power sources production technology. The products developed by Thinika have unique characteristics unparalleled in the world, for instance the widest range of operational temperatures from −50℃ to +150℃.

Comberry, LLC (Ulyanovsk, Russia) is a Tech company, established in October 2013 by the nanocenters of Dubna, Ulyanovsk and Saransk in cooperation with Intermolecular, Inc. (San Jose, USA). Comberry performs applied scientific research in the field of multi-functional thin film materials, solid-state electrolytes and energy storage micro-devices. The nanocenters of Ulyanovsk, Saransk and Dubna are established by RUSNANO’s Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs.

In January 2020 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) confirmed the publication of the Comberry’s patent application for Electrochromic Material and Method of its Manufacturing. The invention allows tinting the glass with blue, gray, black and brown colors, and, the colors change several times faster than in existed similar materials.

Electrochromic glass, whose transparency is altered between the colored and bleached state in response to voltage allowing a user to control the amount of light and heat entering a building, appeared about ten years ago. Such glass has several layers of coatings sputtered directly on glass by large magnetrons. One of the essential layers is cathode. It provides darkening when intercalated with lithium ions and bleaching when these ions move to anode. Such glass is used in architecture, interior design, premium class automobiles, aircraft, yachts, etc.

According to Andrey Redkin, CEO of Comberry this invention is related to inorganic electrochromic materials with advanced characteristics. “Conventional electrochromic materials usually have a fixed tint color, mostly blue, and long switching time of around 10 minutes. Our materials possess extended color range — tints of blue, gray, black and brown, and higher electrical conductivity (due to the use of doping agents to modify electrical conductivity or material optical properties) that allows deposition of thicker electrochromic layers without a dramatic drop in their performance”, said Andrey Redkin.

“Electrochromic glass market is one of the most rapidly growing markets with a CAGR from 40% to 80% depending on the segment. According to the report of one of the prominent global consulting companies, the electrochromic glass market size reached $288 M in 2017, $450 M in 2018 and is expected to reach $9 B by 2022.

The main factor that delays the market growth is high cost of finished products. This is primarily associated with product complexity from engineering perspective and with difficulties to achieve competitive technical characteristics — difference in light transmittance between uncolored and colored states (usually max. 60%), switching time between clear and opaque states and variety of colors and tints.

Our electrochromic materials have wide transparency range: difference between colored and bleached state achieves 80%. The switching speed of the Comberry’s electrochromic device is several times higher than that of the existed similar devices. We also can choose the darkening color of the glass. For now, we have samples of neutral to eye colors of blue, grey, black and brown. And the Comberry’s equipment capacity gives us the opportunity to rapidly select the best possible materials and their deposition process,” — noted Andrey Redkin.

Igor Lukin, Project Manager of ULNANOTECH, added that after patenting, the next stage of the Project would be the development of the electrochromic glass production process to make it available for glass manufacturers.

Reference Information:

Comberry, LLC (Ulyanovsk, Russia) is a Tech company, established in October 2013 by the nanocenters of Dubna, Ulyanovsk and Saransk in cooperation with Intermolecular, Inc. (San Jose, USA). Comberry performs applied scientific research in the field of multi-functional thin-film materials, solid-state electrolytes and energy storage micro-devices. The nanocenters of Ulyanovsk, Saransk and Dubna are established by RUSNANO’s Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs.

World Intellectual Property Organization, (WIPO) is an international organization to administrate key international treaties in the field of intellectual property protection. By filing one international patent application, applicants can simultaneously seek protection for an invention in all countries specified by an applicant. The procedure for patent application includes two key phases: international and national. Within the first phase, an international patent search is performed and a patent application is published. At this stage, an international preliminary examination (optional) can be carried out at an applicant’s request. The second phase is national. Obtaining of a patent to protect an invention is possible only as a result of positive completion of patenting in the selected national patent offices.

The international phase provides only temporary protection of an invention, which expires in case an applicant does not enter the national phase.

IDTechEx’s latest initiative is the IDTechEx Launchpad for hi-tech start-ups, research groups and governmental labs who develop innovative products in areas such as:

• 3D Printing
• Electric Vehicle
• Energy Storage
• Graphen
• Printed Electronics
• IoT
• Sensors
• Wearable Electronics

The IDTechEx Launchpad zone will be featured in the exhibition hall of the IDTechEx Show! 2017.

The ten winners of the IDTechEx contest are granted free exhibitor place at this international event and the ability to demonstrate their state-of-the-art-technologies to over 3,000 attendees.

Comberry will demonstrate one of the Nanocenter’s recently developed technologies, in the field of Energy Storage Devices – Thin Film Li Supercapacitor that was highly praised by the panel of judges.

IDTechEx Show! 2017 - an international exhibition for innovative technologies will be held on 10 – 11 May in Berlin, Germany.

The IDTechEx Launchpad zone will allow young company exhibitors to demonstrate their state-of-the-art technologies to global business and aiding society to become aware of these cutting edge scientific achievement.

IDTechEx provides independent market research, business intelligence and events on emerging technology to clients in over 80 countries since 1999.

Read more at: www.idtechex.com/energy-storage-europe/show/en/exhibitors-list

ULNANOTECH NanoCenter and American Intermolecular, Inc. launched a combinatorial research platform, Comberry, to perform applied research in the field of thin-film coatings (smart glass, PV, power electronics and displays).

Combinatorial technology accelerates research cycles and increases their efficiency, which in turn contributes to rapid implementation of innovative solutions for mass production. The platform has the ability to apply nanoscale thin-films using various application methods as well as to scale lab results to production. Alexaner Smekalin – First Deputy Chairman of the Ulyanosvk Regional Government, Oleg Fomichev – Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation,  CEO  of ULNANOTECH NanoCenter Andrey Redkin and CEO of Comberry  Liubov Ebralidze.

Reference Information

The new laboratory was built within a year of breaking ground.  In September 2013, agreements were signed in California between Ulyanovsk NanoCenter and Intermolecular, Inc. (IMI) to purchase a combinatorial research platform and start a joint research program  . В. In October 2013, three NanoCenters of the RUSNANO network (Ulyanovsk Center for Technology Transfer, NanoCenter “Dubna”, and Center for NanoTechnology and Nanomaterials of the Republic of Mordovia) jointly with the American Intermolecular, Inc. (IMI) founded the technology company Comberry. On December 4, 2014 the platform unparalleled in Russia, CIS and Europe was launched.; Currently, the company employs 11 highly qualified team members from various regions of Russia, France and South Africa, several of whom received an extended training at IMI in California.

The platform is located in one of NanoCenter’s laboratories that conforms to ISO class 7 cleanroom standards, occupies an area of 90 square meters and consists of the following modules:

· Tempus® AP-30 Vacuum cluster module;

· Tempus® P-30 Combined PVD chambers;

· Tempus® F-20 Combined liquid-processing unit;

· Tempus® S-80 Control, processing and data collection server.

Comberry helps clients save resources in the early stages of research by leveraging the capabilities of a combinatorial research platform that provides access to world class technologies:

- accelerates scientific research cycles tenfold (hundreds of experiments can be conducted simultaneously);

- creates large numbers of intellectual property objects while reducing the time it takes to bring a new product to market.

Upon the laboratories’s launch, representatives from IMI and IDTechEx participated in the workshop “Research and Development in the Field of New Thin-Film Devices. Strategic Prospects”. The workshop gathered representatives from leading industrial enterprises and scientific research institutes of Russia. IDTechEx is a world leading provider of independent research and analysis in the field of development and application of Smart-technologies. The company provides independent assessment and analysis in the fields of marketing, technology and business.

*Intermolecular, Inc. is a research company founded in 2004 in California. One of the company’s areas of expertise is the creation of a combinatorial (HPC™) platform that accelerates scientific research and implementation of innovations, and substantially reduces the time to bring a product to market in the semiconductor and clean energy fields. The approach is based on the combination of the proprietary, high-performance combinatorial (HPC™) platform and the company’s inter-disciplinary team of experts. Within the scope of collaborative development programs (CDPs) with its customers, Intermolecular, Inc. develops proprietary technologies focused on advanced materials and processes.

Comberry clear room

Vacuum cluster module Tempus® AP-30

Elena Kolesnikova ,Chemical Engineer

Vladimir Chugunov , Equipment Maintenance Engineer

Konstantin Krilov, Manufacturing Engineer

CEO of Nanocenter Andrey Redkin

Signing of an agreement.

Источник www.ulnanotech.com

On February 6 during the Festival of Science Week in the Ulyanovsk region an international seminar on applying transparent conductive oxide (TSO) technologies was virtually held across seven RUSNANO Nanocenters (Moscow, St.Petersburg, Dubna, Ulyanovsk, Saransk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk). These films are used in all existing optoelectronic devices (LEDs, displays, solar cells) that contain transparent conductive oxides (TCO). Representatives of leading manufacturing enterprises and research institutions gathered in their respective NanoCenters to meet with Intermolecular (IMI), a global leader, their partner and the seminar’s organizer. 

TCO technologies are used in advanced glass coating products (energy saving, low emissions, electrochromic properties, self-cleaning and super-hydrophilicity), photovoltaic devices (transparent heaters, electromagnetic shielding), electronics and displays.

Leading engineers and scientists from the US and Russia gathered to search for advanced solutions and as a result of the seminar formed a Consortium of Enterprises dedicated to the joint development and implementation of TCO technologies. The Consortium leverages the resources and efforts of its members to reduce the time and expenses for developing advanced technologies and to bring new products to market. Interested companies from Russia and CIS are invited to collaborate on the joint projects undertaken by the Consortium.

The Consortium was established at the initiative of the high-tech company founded by the Nanocenters of Ulyanovsk, Dubna, the Republic of Mordovia, and the US company Intermolecular, Inc.

Source www.ulnanotech.com

In San Jose, California, CEO of the Ulyanovsk NanoCenter Andrey Redkin and CEO of the American company Intermolecular (IMI) David Lazovsky signed a joint agreement for the development of innovative solutions in functional thin-film coatings and an agreement to acquire a combinatorial development platform for depositing thin-film coatings on various materials that would be unique to Russia, CIS and Europe.

The unique equipment that accelerates research and development efforts around innovative thin-film coatings and purchased from IMI will be transferred to the high-tech company created by the NanoCenters of Ulyanovsk, Dubna and the Republic of Mordovia. The combinatorial platform will be distributed between Dubna, Ulyanovsk, Saransk and San Jose with the main component being housed in a building of the Ulyanovsk NanoCenter. The company is focused on developing innovative thin-film solutions for the following applications: glass coatings, PV, power electronics and displays. The company is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2014 but we are already working on hiring specialists and are inviting English-speaking scientists and developers from all over the world who want to make significant contributions in the field of thin-film coatings.

Companies from Russia and CIS are also invited to participate in the implementation of joint projects for developing advanced glass coatings, photovoltaic devices, electronics, and displays.

The Joint Project Agreement was signed by the parties on August 16 of this year.

Source www.ulnanotech.com

Upon the official opening of the Ulyanovsk Nanocenter, a joint development agreement (the Agreement) was signed on the implementation of a joint project by the NanoCenters of Ulyanovsk, Dubna, Republic of Mordovia and the US company  Intermolecular, Inc (IMI) that built a distributed platform for depositing multifunctional thin-film coatings to different materials. The Agreement was signed by the Senior Vice-President of Global Sales and Marketing for IMI Craig Hunter, CEO of the Ulyanovsk NanoCenter Andrey Redkin, CIO of the NanoCenter of the Republic of Mordovia Dmitry Krakhin, CEO of the Dubna Nanocenter Aleksey Gostomelsky. Parties to the Agreement expressed intent to work out the terms and sign relevant agreements towards the implementation of the joint project.

The Agreement's purpose is to establish a high-tech company that will focus on creating intellectual property, commercializing new technologies and forming new companies around enhanced coating technologies for glass products, photovoltaic devices, electronics and displays. The solution will allow the company’s customers to develop unique technologies and quickly bring products to market.

We are creating a research company that meets the highest global standards. Parts of the combinatorial platform will be distributed between Ulyanovsk, Dubna, Saransk and San Jose. Developers and researches in these cities will be working in parallel to find solutions to various challenges. Four engineers from Russia will travel to San Jose to receive training on using IMI’s high performance state-of-the-art combinatorial platform for conducting research around thin-film coatings. Several graduate and undergraduate students from the Republic of Mordovia will also intern with Intermolecular where they will learn how to formulate a problem and model experiments in power electronics.

For the first three years Intermolecular, Inc. will refer initial orders from world class market leaders to the high-tech company. In addition to these orders, a number of applications will be developed to further the interests of Russian companies and research teams.

Our business model helps customers save resources in the early stages of research by leveraging the capabilities of a distributed combinatorial platform that provides access to world class technologies at low prices. The business model anticipates that the high –tech company will realize revenue from royalties when the clients start full-scale product manufacturing utilizing the distributed platform technology.

The distributed combinatorial platform will make it possible to simultaneously plan and conduct dozens of experiments by applying sets of multiple nanosized films. “Thus, a researcher will get results 100x times faster” - emphasized Andrey Redkin, CEO of the Ulyanovsk NanoCenter.

Source www.ulnanotech.com