THE TECH
Wildcat Discovery Technologies, a company that uses
high-throughput methods to develop next-generation
battery materials, has received a second patent on its
development of electrolytes for silicon anode batteries.
Wildcat’s first patent for this work was awarded in late
2018, and covered the use of sulfolane-based electrolytes.
This new patent covers acrylate-based additives, which
can be used with more conventional solvents.
Wildcat developed the electrolytes under a grant from
the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy. The company’s goal was to develop new non-car-
bonate-based electrolytes for silicon anodes. It used an
accelerated development method to prepare and evaluate
several thousand electrolyte formulas.
Wildcat CEO Mark Gresser commented, “DOE
funding and guidance made these discoveries possible,
and we look forward to commercializing this patented
technology to improve EV battery performance with a
future license partner.”Wildcat Discovery
Technologies receives second
patent for silicon anode
electrolytes
26
Imec, a Belgian research
firm focused on nano-
electronics, has unveiled
a solid-state Li-metal
battery cell with an energy
density of 400 Wh/liter at
a charging speed of 0.5C (2 hours). As part of a larger en-
gineering roadmap for solid-state batteries, imec aims to
surpass wet Li-ion battery performance and reach 1,000
Wh/L at 2-3C by 2024.
The solid nanocomposite electrolyte that imec’s R&D
center has developed has a conductivity of up to 10 mS/
cm, with a potential for even higher conductivities, says
the company. The new material is applied as a liquid via
wet chemical coating and is converted into a solid only
after it is in place in the electrodes. In this way, it can
be cast into dense powder electrodes, where it fills all
cavities and makes maximum contact, similar to liquid
electrolytes.
Using this solid nanocomposite electrolyte in com-
bination with a standard lithium iron phosphate (LFP)
cathode and lithium metal anode, imec was able to fabri-
cate the 400 Wh/liter battery, which imec says is twice as
good as its results from last year.
The company also announced that it has started
upscaling the materials and processes in a pilot line for
fabrication of solid-state pouch cells at its EnergyVille
Campus in Genk, Belgium. The 300-square-meter
battery assembly pilot line includes a dry room of 100
square meters, and allows manufacturing of prototype
pouch cells of up to 5 Ah capacities.
Imec says a conventional A4 sheet-to-sheet wet
coating-based line is well suited for processing its solid
electrolyte and as such, assembly of the new cells could
be done with a slight modification of existing Li-ion
manufacturing lines.
Philippe Vereecken, Scientific Director at imec/En-
ergyVille, said, “The new battery demonstrates that our
breakthrough electrolyte can be integrated in performant
batteries.”Imec doubles energy density
of its Li-metal batteries to 400
Wh/liter
Image courtesy of Imec