NREL licenses Li-ion battery technology to Forge Nano; enhanced safety, durability, and lifetime
08 May 2017
The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Forge Nano to commercialize NREL’s patented battery materials and systems capable of operating safely in high-stress environments. A particular feature of the technology is the encapsulation of materials with solid electrolyte coatings that can be designed to meet the increasingly demanding needs of any battery application.
These lithium-ion batteries feature a hybrid solid-liquid electrolyte system, in which the electrodes are coated with a solid electrolyte layer. This layer minimizes the potential for the formation of an internal short circuit between electrodes to prevent “thermal runaway,” or the uncontrolled increase in battery cell temperature that can result in a fire or an explosion.
In addition, coating of the electrode materials reduces the stress on traditional polymer separators that are currently necessary components in commercial lithium-ion batteries and can allow for thinner separators designed for higher power devices. This advancement has the potential to reduce both the cost and weight of the battery device, while substantially increasing safety and lifetime.
Lab-scale testing of NREL’s hybrid solid-liquid electrolyte system has shown increased electrode durability and reliability without compromised electrochemical performance.
The cells are less likely to fail, even in demanding, real-world conditions like high temperatures and fast recycle rates.
—Ahmad Pesaran, NREL
Forge Nano, formerly PneumatiCoat Technologies, is a Colorado-based company specializing in the scale-up and manufacturing of cost-effective Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) encapsulated materials. Forge Nano presented its technology at the 2013 and 2017 NREL Industry Growth Forum, the nation’s premier clean energy investment event. A year later, NREL approached the company as a potential licensee after conducting a licensee search in the battery technology area.
This license agreement will allow Forge Nano to offer further customized lithium-ion battery materials for high performance devices by utilizing our patented high-throughput ALD system that has already been successfully tested at the pilot scale and in large format pouch cells. The incorporation of this technology into Forge Nano’s offering will lead to a substantial reduction in cost per unit energy of lithium-ion batteries.
—Paul Lichty, CEO of Forge Nano
In the fall of 2016, Forge Nano closed a Series A investment of $20 million. Testing by Oak Ridge National Labs confirms that Forge Nano ALD coatings improved capacity retention in Li-Ion batteries. Additional studies have shown that Forge Nano ALD coatings on anode and cathode materials significantly increase safety, provide 300% increase in cycle life and 20% increase in energy density in Li-Ion Batteries.
Resources
Debasish Mohanty, Kevin Dahlberg, David M. King, Lamuel A. David, Athena S. Sefat, David L. Wood, Claus Daniel, Subhash Dhar, Vishal Mahajan, Myongjai Lee & Fabio Albano (2016) “Modification of Ni-Rich FCG NMC and NCA Cathodes by Atomic Layer Deposition: Preventing Surface Phase Transitions for High-Voltage Lithium-Ion Batteries” Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 26532 doi: 10.1038/srep26532
There are daily battery miracle reports here in gcc but look at real life, short range and high cost and dismal sales of bevs. If gas is king till 130 years, then just figure what an increase in mpg efficiency will provide and almost no research is done to improve ice efficiency. Also some crooked blogger and moderators in green car reports live john voelker, say that it give nothing to increase gasoline engine efficiency
Posted by: gorr | 08 May 2017 at 03:29 PM
Awesome to see continuing improvements in battery technology!
Posted by: KiwiME | 08 May 2017 at 05:03 PM
exclusive license agreement
Those are rare for national labs.
Posted by: SJC | 08 May 2017 at 08:14 PM
@gorr
Yes indeed let's look at real life.
Li battery costs per kWh have plummeted since 2010.
Less than 4 years after launch, the Renault ZOE increased real world range form 100-180 miles whilst maintaining the battery form factor (an 80% increase in effective volumetric energy density) with older ZOEs now able to upgrade their range.
The next 12 months will see a slew of mid-priced models offering 200+ mile range.
As for 'dismal' sales, given this is effectively a new car segment (from 2010) with considerable production inertial to overcome, the rate of growth is actually impressive see
http://www.ev-volumes.com/country/total-world-plug-in-vehicle-volumes/
Posted by: Thomas Lankester | 11 May 2017 at 06:20 AM
gorr is a Russian troll.
Posted by: SJC | 11 May 2017 at 08:36 AM