NORTHVILLE, Mich. - Amerigon Inc., a developer and marketer of products based on advanced thermoelectric (TE) technologies, and 5N Plus Inc., a developer and producer of high-purity metals and compounds for electronic applications, announced that they have established a partnership, to be called ZT Plus, to develop and manufacture advanced, more efficient thermoelectric materials designed to enable the use of TE technology in a variety of heating and cooling and power generation applications for industrial, consumer, electronics, and automotive markets. Nicholas Audet, manager of research and development of 5N Plus, will lead the new partnership in its initial stages.

Amerigon said its advanced technology subsidiary BSST along with its university partners have performed extensive research into the development of the next generation of TE materials. They have successfully developed materials that significantly outperform the best presently available TE materials, said the company. This partnership between Amerigon and 5N Plus is intended to allow for the completion of the development of these advanced materials and the creation of manufacturing capabilities to produce the materials in volume, and in a cost-efficient manner.

“Our partnership with 5N Plus combines the intellectual property and expertise in thermoelectrics of Amerigon’s BSST subsidiary, and its university partners, with the experience in the purification, compounding, and manufacturing of thermoelectric materials of 5N Plus,” said Lon E. Bell, president of BSST. “The agreement grants BSST the right to purchase these new, more efficient materials for early use in the automotive, power generation from waste heat, and HVAC markets.”

“This is an important milestone for Amerigon and allows us to continue our global leadership in thermoelectric technology and to continue to bring efficient, effective, and practical thermoelectric solutions to market,” said Daniel R. Coker, Amerigon president and chief executive officer. “The development of more efficient materials is the key to unlocking the vast potential of our thermoelectric technology and to creating new products for a broad variety of global markets.”

Jacques L’Ecuyer, 5N Plus president and chief executive officer, said, “We are a leader in specialty materials for the electronics industry and see a unique opportunity to team-up with Amerigon, an industry leader in advanced thermoelectric technologies. We believe this new relationship will allow us to diversify and expand our business into additional high-growth markets with a strong clean technology focus, for example waste heat recovery applications. We are excited about these opportunities and as a result have seconded our manager of research and development to the new partnership to lead these activities in its early stages.”

For more information, visit www.amerigon.com.

Publication date: 09/14/2009