Apart from creating the Powerwatch, Matrix specializes in making thermoelectric elements with the advantage of a good way of dissipating the excess heat that can normally ruin the temperature difference that is required for a thermoelectric to work. In addition, they have an upcoming energy-efficient and ultrafast drink cooler in their product line.

Content

• Powerwatch I & II
• Technology
• Other Products
• Outlook on the Company
• Short facts

Powerwatch I & II:

The newest version of the smartwatch, Powerwatch II, offers heart rate monitoring, GPS location tracking, activity tracking, sleep monitoring, and calorie counting on a full-color display. Furthermore, it is robust and has a 200 m water resistance so you can use it for a wide range of sports. You most likely never have to worry about charging it, as the watch generates electricity from both your body heat and the sun. When it is very hot, above 32 °C (90°F), the thermoelectric will not charge it[i], but the solar cells will continue to do so if there is light. On rare occasions when the weather is hot and there is no light or if you are not wearing it at night, it is possible to charge it if the battery runs out. A small bonus is that when you are more active, the smartwatch charges faster.

Perhaps the biggest downside to the watch is that the price is a bit high for the features it has, starting at USD 499. Another small downside for some may be the slightly bulky design that is necessary for it to utilize the thermoelectric. The older version Powerwatch I, starts at a discount price at USD 99 which could be for you if you just want a thermoelectric powered smartwatch. If you want to be part of the community of users owning the World’s first smartwatch powered by body heat, it might be worth it.

Technology[ii]

The thermoelectric component named “Gemini” made by Matrix utilizes a bulk nanostructure where nanoholes with a fixed distance have the effect of slowing down heat transfer but still allows for electrons to flow and thereby electricity. This is key to making a good thermoelectric. What makes their material special, however, is its ability to, in a sense, turn off parts of it so that it minimizes the loss that other thermoelectrics normally have when not operating at full capacity. This allows it to operate at very low temperature differences of down to 1 °C.

Yet another part of their technology is to use the power generated a lot more efficiently than what is normally the case. A lot of the electronics are therefore low in power consumption without compromising the features of the smartwatch.

Other products from matrix

As a company working with thermoelectric technologies, Matrix is focused on two areas: energy harvesting and cooling. It not only sells thermoelectric materials but also has products used to optimize the use of harvested energy in IoT applications and monitoring devices for measuring performance. Instead of constantly running and hence not working on low power, an IoT device using Matrix’s solution would send signals when it has generated enough power and thereby using it more optimally.

An innovative product, named Juno, on the way to the market, is an extremely fast drink cooler able to cool down a bottle of wine in a matter of minutes. So far, Matrix has demonstrated a prototype and raised USD 298,722 on Indiegogo[iii] (high above the target of USD 100,000).

Outlook on the Company

Apart from being highly innovative, what Matrix Industries Inc. seem to do well is using their consumer-focused products to promote the technology behind. In that way, they demonstrate how it can be used for energy harvesting and cooling in other applications.

Despite a successful crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo which exceeded the goal by a great deal, the company admits to facing some challenges in reaching deadlines for their upcoming product, Juno, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also face a bit of critique for not giving enough updates, which although concerning could actually be a good thing and preferred as it might just mean that they are focused on bringing the product to the market instead of replying right away to backers.

Matrix is competing in various markets: wearables, energy harvesting, cooling, and soon kitchen hardware. It does however seem to have found a niche in combining these markets by finding ways to benefit its products across them and creating a strong company image.

The market for smartwatches is expected to grow from $20.64 billion in 2019 to $96.31 billion by 2027 with major players such as Samsung, Apple, Fitbit, and Garmin[iv]. Here, Matrix Industries are competing in a segment of simpler watches with fewer functions than for example an apple watch but is also in its own class creating a community of people excited about the tech. The market for thermoelectric generators is expected to grow from USD 460 Million in 2019 to USD 741 Million by 2025 with an average annual growth rate of 8.3 %[v]. Here, some of the major players are Gentherm, Inc. (US), II-VI Marlow, Inc. (US), and Ferrotec Corporation (Japan). This market is closely related to thermoelectric cooling as the same products are used, so many of the same competitors operate in it as well.

The best alternative to the upcoming product Juno seems to be the Cooper Cooler[vi] from Revolutionary Cooling Systems, Inc., but this alternative is hardly comparable as it simply spins bottles in iced water which is a high energy-consuming process, requires more steps, and for you to have ice. Nor does it seem like an attractive way for restaurants or bars to cool drinks, which likely makes Juno the number one option when it comes out.

Short facts:

• Status: Private
• Founded in 2011 by CEO, Akram Boukai, and CTO, Douglas Tham. Both with a PhD from Caltech.
• Total funding[vii] between USD 10-20 m.
• Successfully used crowdfunding to launch two of their consumer-oriented products.
• No. of employees[viii]: 24
• Offices: HQ: Menlo Park, CA, US

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Note: Featured image has been re-printed with permission from Matrix Industries Inc.

References:

[i] https://www.powerwatch.com/pages/faqs

[ii] https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/imagine-world-where-iot-powered-body-heat

[iii] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/juno-like-a-microwave-for-cooling#/

[iv] https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/smartwatch-market

[v] https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4848864/thermoelectric-generators-market-by-application?utm_source=GNDIY&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_code=63v8nk&utm_campaign=1309474+-+Global+%24741M+Thermoelectric+Generators+Market+2019-2025+%7c+Forecast+by+Application%2c+Wattage%2c+Temperature%2c+Material%2c+Vertical%2c+Component%2c+and+Region&utm_exec=joca220prd

[vi] https://coopercooler.com/

[vii] https://www.owler.com/company/matrix-industries

[viii] https://www.linkedin.com/company/matrix-industries-inc/about/

The post Never charge your smartwatch again, Matrix Industries Inc., review appeared first on The Nano Future.

Content:

• The basics
• The technical
• Applications
• Applications in nanotechnology
• Outlook

The basics

For a thermoelectric to create electricity, it requires a temperature difference. One side must be hotter than the other one or else it will stop working. A good material must therefore be good at conducting electricity but bad at conducting heat. For most materials, this is not the case which makes it hard to discover good thermoelectrics. Nanotechnology has helped a lot in coming up with new materials that have proven to be more efficient and are now used in commercial products.

The technical

The thermoelectric effect[i] is what allows for generation of electricity. When there is a temperature difference, more electrons from the hot side move to the cold side than the opposite which creates a Voltage difference and allows for energy harvesting.

To compare different thermoelectrics, the ZT value is used which is a combination of the Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and absolute temperature and gives an idea of the efficiency of the material to convert heat to electricity.

A recently discovered material showed a ZT value at 1.1 close to room temperature and an efficiency of 11 % conversion[ii]. This might not sound like a lot but can actually be used to power a lot of small devices. The best ZT value and the world record reported in 2019 from Vienna university was between 5-6[iii]. It uses a thin layer of iron, vanadium, tungsten, and aluminum applied to a silicon crystal.

It is a good number to be aware of but can sometimes be a bit misleading as scientists sometimes discover materials with high ZT values but where the scalability or reliability of the material becomes problematic. It is also important to look at which temperature range the product needs to be used at. A good ZT value is not worth a lot if it only works at a very narrow temperature range. The context is therefore important to be aware of.

Applications

Most applications of Peltier materials work the other way around where electricity is used to create a temperature difference for example to precisely control the temperature in a wine refrigerator. However, this post is focusing on the ability to generate electricity.

An easily relatable product using thermoelectrics is the Powerwatch 2 by Matrix Industries. It is a smartwatch that you, in principle, never have to charge and is powered by your own body heat and a small panel of solar cells. Their thermoelectric is based on a nanomaterial.

The biggest applications for generating electricity are where there is high energy waste in the form of heat. One example of this is in oil drillings that use ‘fracking’ where excess gas is often simply burned or ‘flared’ to reduce the risk of explosions when drilling due to large pressure building up. The burned gas is a waste product, which could instead be utilized by converting it to useful energy by having thermoelectric components installed. This has been attempted by the company Alphabet energy, which installed thermoelectric power generation at oil drillings around the US [iv]. Unfortunately, the company has since then gone out of business[v]. During operation, they were working on commercializing a thermoelectric material with silicon nanowires in it but meanwhile used a naturally occurring thermoelectric in their product for oil drillings.

There are other examples of industrial processes where there is high heat waste such as in steel mills and aluminum manufacturing. In long term, having small thermoelectrics in cars is something that would greatly reduce heat waste[vi]. So far it is not commercially available but has been demonstrated to be feasible and greatly researched for instance by the company Gentherm Incorporated[vii].

The application possibilities are endless, just think about situations where heat is a waste product. With continuous improvements in efficiency, more and more of these applications become economically viable.

Applications in Nano technology

An interesting field where thermoelectrics could perhaps fill in a gap is within nano- and micro-sensors. These, small sensing devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), are on the rise in fields such as medicine and diagnostics, agriculture, and production industries but often find the challenge of missing a source of energy other than using batteries. In some cases, thermoelectrics could be this source, thus making the sensors self-reliant and prolonging their lifetime.

This same challenge applies to the idea of nanorobotics and other nanoscale devices in remote locations that need to be self-sufficient as well. Thermoelectric power generation is, however, not the only solution. Other sources of energy could be solar or vibrations, but these are not always possible to use.

Outlook

As a technology on the rise, there’s still some way to go before thermoelectrics become mainstream. One of the biggest barriers for them to become used more is that there is no streamlined application process for each scenario. It requires some innovative thinking to find the proper way of installing it in already complex processes with heat waste, so even if it is profitable, it takes some time to get it to market.

Another barrier, however, is still their efficiency in power conversion. If thermoelectrics become more effective at harvesting electricity, the incentive to introduce them in different settings ultimately becomes larger. Lastly, a general lack of knowledge about the potential of thermoelectric power generation is an inhibitor for its use since production industries may not realize that there is a way for them to capture wasted heat and thereby reduce their energy consumption.

Nanotechnology has already played a big role in improving efficiency in thermoelectrics and will probably continue to do so as new materials are discovered within this space. It is nevertheless a combination of different factors that are needed before they become more widely used. According to ReseachandMarkets[viii], the global thermoelectric generators market is expected to grow from USD 460 Million in 2019 to USD 741 Million by 2025 with an average annual growth rate of 8.3 %. Some of the biggest players within this field are Gentherm, Inc. (US), II-VI Marlow, Inc. (US), and Ferrotec Corporation (Japan).

If you’d like to learn more about nanotechnologies, please subscribe to our newsletter and stay tuned for upcoming posts.

References:

[i] https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/thermoelectric-effect

[ii] https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/ta/c9ta12954e#!divAbstract

[iii] https://www.tuwien.at/en/tu-wien/news/news-articles/news/new-material-breaks-world-record-turning-heat-into-electricity/

[iv] http://www.fillerlab.com/nanovation/archive?offset=1506561253634

[v] https://www.businessinsider.com/most-valuable-us-startups-failed-went-out-of-business-2018-11?r=UK#16-ezhome-subscription-based-lawn-care-services-10

[vi] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196890419306429

[vii] https://www.gentherm.com/

[viii] https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4848864/thermoelectric-generators-market-by-application?utm_source=GNDIY&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_code=63v8nk&utm_campaign=1309474+-+Global+%24741M+Thermoelectric+Generators+Market+2019-2025+%7c+Forecast+by+Application%2c+Wattage%2c+Temperature%2c+Material%2c+Vertical%2c+Component%2c+and+Region&utm_exec=joca220prd

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