A pilot production for an advanced silicon Li-ion battery has now begun in Europe by a leading global researcher and producer of advanced silicon GDI.
Innovation News Network reported that GDI will be crucial to the production of batteries and the shift to a more sustainable energy source. With the help of GDI’s technology, innovative Li-ion batteries can achieve 75% charge in 15 minutes and have a 30% greater energy density owing to its 100% silicon anode design.
In addition to a $3 million grant from the US government, the firm has secured $13.3 million in funding. The production capacity of the batteries has reached 300kWh since their implementation in the Netherlands, and GDI anticipates that it will surpass 1000kWh by 2024.
Josh Grehan, Principal at Helios Climate Ventures, stated, “This funding will help GDI move to the forefront of the high-performance battery market, as advanced silicon anodes accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and improve performance of electronic products worldwide with faster charging times, greater energy density and enhanced safety.”
It is worth noting that only around 10% of silicon can now be used by silicon producers in their items, but they want to utilize substantially more. Manufacturing Li-ion batteries built entirely of silicon has historically presented a number of challenges to manufacturers.
The battery has a finite number of cycles because silicon stretches and contracts. Remarkably, GDI was able to found a way around the pricey production. In addition, silicon is reported to improve Li-ion batteries. In order to demonstrate the superiority of the substance, the company examined multi-layered silicon pouch cells.
When compared to competing products, the cells’ ability to charge from 10% to 75% in 15 minutes over 600 times without any lithium plating or battery failure sets them apart from the pack. Competitor products call for additional compression and lithium to extend chargeable batteries’ lifespan.
Since silicon Li-ion batteries are manufactured using commercial solar and glass production machinery that can create millions of square meters of glass per year, they have a tremendous amount of scalability.
“The future of Li-ion anodes is silicon. GDI is achieving three critical objectives; full substitution of silicon for graphite/carbon in Li-ion batteries, using a massively scalable domestic manufacturing method, and achieving industrial relevant cost to performance targets,” Robert Anstey, founder and CEO of GDI, said.
Roel van Diepen, Investment Director at EIT InnoEnergy, added: “GDI’s ability to seamlessly integrate into existing lithium battery architecture and production lines offer significant cost and time-to-market advantages.
“But, equally important, the use of a silicon anode reduces the dependency of traditional imported materials like graphite, making the European battery value chain more resilient as well as increasing domestic content.”
