Based in Tennessee, the company is in the midst of
building its first manufacturing plant, which it expects
to be operating at commercial levels by this summer. Ac-
cording to St Baker, PUREgraphite’s anode material has
been tested both internally and externally to be up to EV
standards.
“We’ve confirmed...that this material is as good as any
other material in the market or better. So it performs
very well,” he said.
That material may soon be even better, thanks to
Novonix’s recent return to its research roots. In October
2018, the company signed a partnership with Dalhousie
University to sponsor one of its battery research groups.
That sponsorship has already begun to pay off, as Novo-
nix has filed its first patent for silicon-infused graphite
developed by the Dalhousie team.
“For years and years, companies have been trying to
put silicon into graphite to give the battery more capac-
ity,” explained St Baker. “But the problem is the silicon
expands and contracts and damages the graphite and
[shortens] battery life. So this has been an ongoing prob-
lem that the industry has been dealing with. The guys
working for us in Dalhousie have managed to get the
silicon inside the graphite particles. Not only do they get
the silicon inside the particles, but they do it in a manner
which is very cheap.”
The results of that research should come to light within
the next few months. In the meantime, Novonix is in the
process of filing a second patent that’s focused on battery
cathodes rather than anodes.Other batter manufacturers are “lining up,” accord-
ing to St Baker. But it’s not just battery makers buy-
ing Novonix’s testing equipment. Automakers and
electronics manufacturers also buy Novonix technol-
ogy to help them evaluate the best batteries for their
products.
“All major battery makers and all companies start-
ing to spend time heavily on battery R&D are buying
Novonix’s f lagship HPC technology,” St Baker said.PUREgraphite
Novonix’s success in selling its HPC technology
prompted the company to dive even further into the
battery industry. In a joint venture with the battery
consulting company Coulometrics, Novonix established
a company called PUREgraphite to develop and manu-
facture anode materials for the EV battery market.
“We expect to be the first significant player outside
of Asia providing an alternative supply of premium
end graphite anode material for the battery market,” St
Baker said.
PUREgraphite says that its material is easily pro-
cessed from powder into battery electrodes which result
in cells with high capacity and long life, both of which
are critical requirements to the growing EV and ESS
markets. With proprietary manufacturing processes,
PUREgraphite can deliver this material to customers
cheaper than the current price of competitive materials
coming from Asia.36
THE TECH
We expect to be
the first significant
player outside of
Asia providing an
alternative supply
of premium end
graphite anode
material for the
battery market.