The company has been able to demonstrate for the first time that VACNT can be grown simultaneously on both sides on a 90cm wide manufacturing scale – a major leap from the 30cm milestone NAWA achieved 12 months ago on the same equipment. This development further shows the full scale-ability of VACNT manufacturing.
Offering multiple uses, NAWA’s key VACNT applications include the fastest electrode, designed at nanoscale, bringing a massive leap in the power capability of any battery, with NAWA seeing huge potential in the global lithium battery sector in particular. Using VACNT, NAWA’s next gen ultracapacitor, the NAWACap, will be able to deliver up to five times more power capability than conventional technology, while other uses include advanced materials.
From its production line located in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, NAWA’s further production ramp-up demonstrates that VACNT can be grown simultaneously and homogeneously on both sides of a substrate at Atmospheric Pressure using a Chemical Vapor Deposition (APCVD) process, in a roll-to-roll manner. The process not only demonstrates the ability to grow double-sided VACNT from a few micrometres to over 200 micrometres, simultaneously at 90cm width, but also to selectively grow VACNT, essential for revolutionary electrodes designs and production efficiency.
A highly flexible and modular manufacturing system, its specific design makes it very compact compared to conventional coating equipment resulting in a footprint in a factory environment that is minimised, while the highly efficient process means that the production cost of NAWA’s VACNT material has the potential to achieve parity with that of a current electrode at future mass production levels.
Pascal Boulanger, Founder and CTO of NAWA Technologies said, “We are delighted to announce today another important milestone in the production of our Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube (VACNT) material. Just 12 months ago we proved that VACNT could be manufactured on both sides of a 30cm substrate, but now we have achieved another world-first breakthrough resulting in a tripling the rate of VACNT production, demonstrating the further scaling-up capabilities of NAWA and our VACNT technology.”
Ulrik Grape, CEO, NAWA Technologies, added, “The potential for VACNT is enormous in energy storage, from bringing about a quantum leap in the performance of electrodes in any battery system, particular in the global lithium sector, to our next gen ultracapacitors and in other material applications.”
