The idea is that this will result in improved cell performance, and also extend the system compatibility of silicon anode materials, allowing use of lower cost electrolyte formulations and lower overall battery cell costs.
The project, named SPICE for Silicon Product Improvement through Coating Enhancement, is already underway, and is expected to take eighteen months to complete.
The focus of the work will be the use of an optimised coating for improved surface morphology, with the intention of leading to improved conductivity of the underlying anode material for faster charge rates and sustained capacity of the battery during charge / discharge cycles.
Nexeon is working with partners Phoenix Scientific Industries (PSI), AGM Batteries and Oxford University’s Department of Materials, and the team has been awarded £2 million in funding through the Government’s ISCF Faraday Battery Challenge by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.
Nexeon will lead the project, and apply its expertise in the design and performance of materials for lithium ion batteries. It has already established a laboratory scale coating process for its silicon anode material, and its scale up team has expertise in scaling up high value materials to mass production.
A chemical vapour deposition coating process is being designed by PSI, while AGM will validate the performance of prototype cells incorporating Nexeon’s coated silicon anode powder and open its subsequent routes to market.
The project will draw on Oxford University Department of Materials expertise to understand what is happening at the molecular level – assessing the uniformity, quality and performance of the special coating.
