This is a good read below explaining the limitations of anode materials mainly consisting of graphite which has good energy density but cannot be charged too quickly due to the risk of fire and explosions from a process known as lithium metal plating and thermal runaway from over charging , comparing to ADO's safe water based silicon tech, the silicon has capacity for 10x the energy density of graphite and is 8 x cheaper and charge much faster.
Anteotech must be on the cusp of proving a drop in working silicon semi solid state composite anode material tech that can send an electric vehicle over 260ok on a single charge , note Sila below with a $3 billion USD market cap can only provide 20% improvement in energy retention with their silicon based anode material , Anteo is 4 x that now , most other high energy battery tech breakthroughs find it hard to achieve better than 260 mAh/g energy retention at this time compared to Anteotech achieving over 1000 mAh/g with the latest 70% + silicon composite trialling much higher again , I am sure battery deals will come sooner than the market expects with this incredible ultra performance the battery market is crying out for , the Australian government should support Anteotech now before another foreign government or major car/battery business grabs it! DYOR.
One of the biggest bottlenecks to charging in today’s lithium-ion batteries is the anode. The most common anode is made of graphite, which is very energy dense, but cannot be charged too quickly due to the risk of fire and explosions from a process known as lithium metal plating. Against the backdrop of the growing demand for battery to have high energy and faster charging times, researchers at the University of California San Diego and Boise State University have developed a new approach to making
novel lithium-ion battery materials. They transformed a non-crystalline (amorphous) material into a crystalline Nb
2O
5 anode material with exceptional battery properties – by cycling it with lithium. Intercalation metal oxides, like the rock salt Nb
2O
5 material discovered by the team, are promising anode alternatives due to the reduced risk of lithium plating at low voltages. “If you want to charge your EV for 15 minutes and then get on the road for the next 200 or 300 miles, you need new battery electrodes that can be charged at a very fast rate without much loss in performance,” says Pete Barnes, the lead author of the study published in
Nature Materials. The new electrode can achieve high lithium storage of 269 mAh/g at a charging rate of 20 mA/g, and more importantly, continues to retain a high capacity of 191 mAh/g at a high charging rate of 1 A/g. “The trick is to start from a higher energy phase, such as an amorphous material. Just cycling the material with lithium allows us to create new crystalline arrangements that exhibit improved properties beyond those made via traditional means such as solid-state reactions,” says Hui (Claire) Xiong, a professor of materials science and engineering at Boise State University.
Speaking of next-generation battery materials, U.S.-based start-up
Sila, is building a large-scale factory in Washington State to make advanced anodes that use silicon instead of graphite, which the company says will make EV battery packs more energy-efficient and, eventually, cheaper. The company, cofounded by one of Tesla’s earliest engineers and backed by Mercedes-Benz, is making an initial investment to deliver annual silicon-based anode production sufficient to power 10 GWh of cells when used as a full graphite replacement, or up to 50 GWh of cells when used as a partial replacement. This is enough material to power batteries in up to 100,000-500,000 EVs and 500 million mobile phones annually. Production lines at the facility will start-up in the second half of 2024, with full start of production underway in the first half of 2025. Power for the facility will be zero-carbon, supplied by Washington’s hydroelectric grid. The company told
Forbes that Daimler and BMW will be the first users of its materials in high-end electric models. “First and foremost, we’re pushing for higher energy density,” CEO Gene Berdichevsky said, estimating that Sila’s anodes provide up to a 20% improvement in energy efficiency to the best current lithium-ion battery packs. They can also enable faster charging or hold down pack costs by reducing the number of cells needed to go the same distance. “If you’ve got a vehicle that has 1,000 cells in it, and it gives you the range you want when each battery stores 20% more energy you can go from 1,000 cells to 800 cells. Now the vehicle is lighter and it's cheaper to make.”
Meanwhile, German sports car manufacturer
Porsche is acquiring shares in the U.S.-based company Group14 Technologies, a producer of advanced silicon-carbon technology for lithium-ion batteries. As the lead investor, Porsche is raising $100 million and leading a Series C funding round in which several companies are investing a total of $400 million, which Group14 Technologies is planning to use to accelerate its worldwide production silicon anode material for lithium-ion batteries. According to Porsche, Group14 will also supply the Cellforce Group from Tübingen, in which Porsche holds a majority stake. Cellforce is currently building its battery factory near Stuttgart with production scheduled to start in 2024.
(20min delay)
