Advancing anode design for improved battery performance

Improving the performance of today’s battery cells has so far seen significant advancements to the cathode. However, this company has been directing its efforts towards improving the anode, with impressive results…

Within a battery cell, the anode is the negative or reducing electrode that releases electrons to the external circuit and oxidises during an electrochemical reaction, facilitating the flow of electric charge. While the anode is a vital subcomponent of today’s battery cells, recent development has largely focused on improving the efficiency and capabilities of the cathode, leaving untapped opportunities on the anode side according to LionVolt CEO Kevin Brundish.

“The cell, and therefore the battery, is only as good as either one of the components, and so the anode has started to trail,” he says. “The mission of our business is to boost the performance of today’s cells. By taking out a graphite anode and replacing it with our lithium anodes, we can get 1.5 times the energy density compared to cells today, which is a very big step change. This enables things like electric flight to become more realistic and is applicable to the consumer electronics market, too.”

OPPORTUNITY AWAITS

LionVolt is an innovative battery scale-up company focused on developing a 3D electrode technology that can be applied in next generation lithium-ion, sodium-ion and solid-state battery cells.

“There are three core outlets for our technology, as we see it,” Brundish continues. “Lithium anodes can be put in today’s liquid cells to boost performance, but they are also viewed as a core component of a solid-state cell as well, and everything in between. Liquid, gel or solid, our anode can be applied to all of these bases.”

Lithium offers 10 times the energy of current anode materials, meaning the potential performance benefits for today’s battery cells are huge. However, introducing lithium comes with its challenges, as Brundish explains: “One of the downsides is that if you try to use lithium straight off, it doesn’t have a great cycle life or fast charging speeds. How this has been dealt with by nearly everyone else is that they’re looking at how to adapt the electrolyte to manage those deficiencies. We, on the other hand, have been addressing this at the lithium metal positioning, bringing in a 3D architecture which is the core of the business, and which gives us lots of surface area and very thin films. Typically, the thinner the film, the faster it charges.”

LionVolt’s 3D architecture overcomes the limitations of lithium to enable fast charging rates, but there is a byproduct benefit too. By its nature, the ultra-thin film also has a good lifetime, meaning the company has overcome the two foundational limitations of lithium in a wide range of products.

“We’re drawing on manufacturing techniques in other scaled industries, like photovoltaics, like semiconductors. So, we’re looking at drawing those techniques into the battery world, and the advantages that those bring,” Brundish says. “We see ourselves as working on a complementary angle to those who are working on the cycle life side of cells. We think we’ve solved the challenge of fast charging lithium, and that enables it to be practically applied into a much wider market space.”

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

Long-term, LionVolt sees its anode solution being dropped into the existing battery cell supply chain for many different industries.

“The beauty of working on a high energy cell is that it can be applied to lots of different markets,” Brundish says. “The same core product can be built up or down into bigger or smaller batteries, depending on what the end use is, and what we do is very deployable. If you were putting our technology into a plane, for instance, you’d just have to build much bigger batteries using the same product. We’re already working with companies in the vehicle space, but for now it’s about building that scale up. In terms of markets, we’re working in parallel with everybody, but recognising that the needs of each sector differ slightly. Some favour early adoption, and some prefer a longer-term rollout. But we are working with all sectors – aerospace, electric vehicles, HGVs and so on – and we see ourselves being deployed in all those markets.”

NEXT-GEN ANODES ARE TRENDING

While the general trends of more energy, lower weight and volume, and faster charging still remain as important now as they were decades ago, there are some interesting developments taking off in the cell development space.

“We’re seeing the articulation of solid-state as a solution to some of the safety issues, as well as delivering very high performance products,” Brundish offers. “This has been a market desire for some time, although the practical time frames to deliver this are still being looked at. We want to accelerate this, because we solve some of the core challenges. Additionally, liquid-base cells have been in use for a long time and we’ve arguably had a very stable and safe product for years, but now we want more from it. So of course, there’s the question of whether we can get this. And so, we are seeing a trend on next-generation anodes that could really deliver on those market trends of fast charging, good life and improved safety. The anode forms a very important part of this picture.”

So, what are the next steps for LionVolt on this journey? “Where we’ve been up until now is focusing on the innovation side and demonstrating the technology can deliver all of the above,” Brundish adds. “Over the last year, we have ensured that we have a manufacturing capacity that is sufficiently large and efficiently repeatable, which means we can now build those cells and provide them to our clients in 2025. Our innovation is now being embedded in a product that our clients can evaluate and start to consider designing into their products.”