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Commercial Scale, High-Energy-Density SemiSolid Lithium-Ion Batteries

March 05, 2019 by Scott McMahan

24M reported that it has developed and delivered commercially viable, high-energy-density lithium-ion cells. These new high-energy-density cells use the company's unique SemiSolidTM lithium-ion battery design. According to the company, the design eliminates 80% of inactive metal and plastic materials layers in conventional lithium-ion batteries.

These deliveries of its unique lithium-ion cells denote a significant milestone in 24M's mission of scaling what the company describes as a capital-efficient, low-cost approach to advanced lithium-ion battery manufacturing.

At the company's pilot facility, 24M achieved energy densities exceeding 250Wh/kg, the current state-of-the-art industry benchmark for EV applications.

"It's very gratifying to see science translated from the lab into innovative new products as 24M has done by developing and delivering these high energy density cells"

The development of the high-energy-density nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) cells is part of a $7 million, three-year contract awarded to 24M in 2016 by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The program is intended to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support the commercialization of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric, and fuel cell vehicles. The goal of the project is to achieve the final USABC 2020 density target of 350Wh/kg by the end of 2019.

So far, 24M says it has developed a multi-faceted, lab-proven approach that includes a novel use of silicon for high energy density anodes. The company also says it delivered similar NMC cells with energy densities above 280 Wh/kg to an industrial partner.

Optimizing 24M's SemiSolid electrode technology, which eliminates the use of a pore-clogging binder, enables higher active material densities than can be achieved with conventional electrodes. These higher active material densities translate to higher energy densities.

Another benefit of the technology, according to the company, is that it enables the highest electrode capacity in the industry. The company notes that the technology can also be scaled up or down for large, or small, grid, EVs, or consumer applications. The technology is also said to be much more tolerant of abuse than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

The demonstration of this technology is a major step on the 24M roadmap to attaining even higher energy densities (>400Wh/kg) using its capital-efficient manufacturing process.

"It's very gratifying to see science translated from the lab into innovative new products as 24M has done by developing and delivering these high energy density cells," said Naoki Ota, CTO of 24M. "Moreover, we were able to leverage our novel electrode, cell and manufacturing approach to exceed 280 Wh/kg, a significant step towards delivering low-cost lithium-ion cells with industry-leading performance to the EV market."