March 14, 2018 | News Brief | BioSolar, Inc., a developer of breakthrough energy storage technology and materials, has achieved a significant performance milestone in silicon micro-particle (SiMP) anodes enhanced by its innovative silicon (Si) anode additive technology.
BioSolar recently applied its proprietary additive to SiMP material through a facile commercially available process and performed extensive charge/discharge testing that demonstrated almost 100 percent capacity retention at 600 mAh/g (with current density of 1mA/cm2) at more than 300 cycles. To put this in perspective, the industry’s current performance target for initial Si anode testing is 600 mAh/g and 80 percent retention following 300 cycles. One cycle consists of a complete charge and discharge function.
“This is a very significant demonstration of capability, one we believe will foster collaboration with potential customers as well as silicon micro-particle or bulky powder suppliers,” said Dr. David Lee, Chief Executive Officer of BioSolar. “The outcome of this achievement using our proprietary technology will be extremely beneficial to battery manufacturers, as well as all electric device companies that continue to seek high energy and high power batteries, all at low costs. We believe the high performance and low-cost potential of this technology will result in increased adoption of various consumer applications, such as electric vehicles.”
The industry standard for Si anodes currently uses Si nano-particles, but the difficulty of manufacturing raw Si nano-particle materials remains a costly challenge. By contrast, Si micro-particles are easier to manufacture at a significantly lower cost. Unfortunately, anodes made from Si micro-particles are more prone to damage during battery charging and discharging due to volume expansion, thus not yet commercially viable. BioSolar’s innovative additive technology is designed to solve this problem.
