Chemicals and materials company Ingevity earlier this month invested $60 million in a $170-million round to acquire an equity stake in Nexeon Limited (earlier post) in a strategic move to establish the company’s presence in the electric vehicle (EV) market and expand opportunities to grow its activated carbon business.

UK-based Nexeon is a desiger of silicon-based anode materials that improve performance of lithium-ion batteries for EVs and consumer electronics.

Ingevity’s funding will enable Nexeon to further develop its proprietary next-generation silicon anode material, NSP-2, and facilitate the construction of manufacturing facilities for the commercialization of Nexeon’s innovative products.

Nexeon is developing two types of silicon material solution:

• NSP-1 is a silicon based composite powder designed for use in hybrid or low-loading anode electrodes (recommended use up to 10 wt.% loading). It can be used to enhance existing graphite anode electrode active materials and is designed to provide improved cell capacity. Typical initial anode capacity is 400 – 450 mAh/g.

• NSP-2 is a silicon based material designed for use in high loading anode electrode formulations (up to 80 wt.%) and delivers a significant increase in anode energy capacity and capacity density. NSP-2 mitigates expansion through the use of engineered porosity at the particle level in combination with optimized anode design.

Source: Nexeon

Nexeon’s customers have found that NSP-2 offers a step-change improvement in lithium-ion battery performance while also reducing the weight of the battery. With four times the energy density per gram when compared to conventional graphite anodes, Nexeon’s drop-in technology will deliver increased vehicle range and faster charging of lithium-ion EVs.

In connection with its investment, Ingevity and Nexeon have committed to a joint development of future products involving the use of Ingevity’s activated carbon and intend to enter into a long-term supply agreement between the parties. Ingevity will be represented on Nexeon’s Board of Directors by Ingevity’s Chief Growth & Innovation Officer, Erik Ripple.