Race to Market with Silicon Battery Anode

Two years ago we looked at several early stage companies developing technology to use silicon as a cost effective material for better batteries.  The June 2^nd post “BioSolar Files Application to Protect Silicon Anode Technology” described the most recent accomplishments for one of them.  In this post we look at the rest of the mob to see who is still racing BioSolar to the commercial battery market.

Widely available and relatively low-cost silicon is economically attractive for many industrial and manufacturing applications. It is another characteristic of silicon that makes battery manufacturers drool, especially makers of lithium ion batteries used in high performance situations.  Silicon offers exceptional energy capacity measured at 4,200 mAh/g (milliampere hours per gram).  At that level a silicon battery component could absorb fifteen times more electric charge than the graphite material that is presently used in conventional lithium ion batteries.  This translates to longer battery life and smaller, lower weight batteries.

Silicon has greater capacity because it each silicon atom can accept up to four lithium ions.  By comparison it takes up to six carbon atoms in graphite to capture just one lithium ion.  The problem is that silicon’s high-capacity structure also means silicon expands and contracts with great drama, making any component fabricated from silicon susceptible to breaking and cracking. 

Quite beguiling in performance, but unruly in behavior, silicon requires a fix.  BioSolar engineers think they have found a good mechanical fix with a carbon matrix ‘housing’ for the silicon.  Now they are off with an application for protection of their technology from the U.S. patent office. 

Investors should know there are other solutions.  Following is a brief list of other silicon anode developers and their most recent successes.

·        Amprius produces batteries for drones, robotics and aerospace vehicles.  The batteries feature silicon nanowires that leave room for the thin hairs of silicon to swell and shrink as the silicon atoms absorb (charge) and give away the lithium atom (discharge).  In October 2019, Airbus Defense and Space invested in Amprius to facilitate development of batteries for its Zephyr High Altitude Pseudo Satellite.

·        Enevate is focused on solutions for fast-charging even under extreme temperature conditions.  It is using an engineered porous film made of pure silicon for the battery anode.  Enevate has received investments from Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi and battery manufacturers LG Chem and Samsung.

·        Enovix has patented a three-dimensional cell architecture with silicon anodes stacked on top of cathodes and separators.  In March 2020, Enovix raised $45 million for a battery production facility in California and may try to raise an additional $20 million before the end of the year.  The first batteries are expected to be shipped in the first half 2021 to OEMs in the consumer electronics industry. 

·        Ultra-pure polymer chemistry is the foundation of EnerG2’s carbon aerogel technology.  The company produces three battery designs in a manufacturing facility in Oregon.  EnerG2 is a portfolio company of BASF Venture Capital.

·        Group14 Technologies is a spin-off of EnerG2 for the purpose of commercializing EnerG2’s composite anode material as a replacement for graphite anodes in lithium ion batteries.  Group14 manufactures ‘drop in’ materials for lithium ion batteries.  The company raised $18 million in November 2019, from Amperex Technologies, Showa Denko, Cabot Corporation, and BASF Venture Capital.

·        NanoGraf Corporation (formerly SiNode Systems) has developed a proprietary silicon alloy-graphene material which has a capacity of 1,000 mAh/g.  NanoGraf uses a wet chemistry process to produce anode materials that can be ‘dropped in to’ conventional battery manufacturing lines.     

·        Nexeon is developing binder polymers that allow more silicon to be used as a partial replacement for carbon in battery anodes.  Nexeon recently acquired two dozen patents protecting technology to use silicon in lithium ion battery anodes.  Among other manufacture and use protections, the patents cover methods for coating carbon particles with silicon using vapor deposition. 

·        Sila Nanotechnologies is enclosing silicon in rigid nanostructures that keep their original shape while the silicon expands and contracts within.  In November 2019, the company raised $45 million in new capital to ramp up production at its battery materials plant in California. 

 

Company		Location		Stage		Capital Source
Amprius, Inc.	amprius.com		Development		Venture
BioSolar, Inc.	biosolar.com		Development		BSRC:  OTC
Enevate Corp.	enevate.com		Development		Venture
Enovix	enovix.com		Low volume		Strategic partners
EnerG2	energ2.com		Manufacturing		Div. of BASF Venture
Group 14 Technologies	group14technologies.com		Manufacturing		EnerG2; Venture
NanoGraf Corp.	nanograf.com		Manufacturing		Strategic partners
Nexeon	nexeon.co.uk		Development		Private equity, venture
Sila Technologies	silanano.com		Manufacturing		Venture, Strategic partner

 

 

Neither the author of the Small Cap Strategist web log, Crystal Equity Research nor its affiliates have a beneficial interest in the companies mentioned herein.