Pure silicon battery cell tops 500 cycles without external pressure
Dutch startup LeydenJar has successfully developed and produced lithium-ion battery cells with a 100% silicon anode capable of delivering 500 charge-discharge cycles without requiring any external pressure.
The company has overcome one of the key limitations of next-generation anodes for consumer applications on its roadmap to higher energy densities over 1350Wh/l.
Silicon anodes can provide higher energy than a traditional graphite anode, but can swell during charge-discharge cycles. This swelling can damage the cell internally, leading to early degradation and failure.
This is often addressed by using high external pressures of 1 MPa which limits the use of the cells in consumer electronics such smartphones, laptops and wearables where the batteries need to perform well without any applied pressure or a rigid battery pack.
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LeydenJar says the need for external pressure has been entirely eliminated for the first time, whilst still achieving 500 cycles until 80% capacity retention, and 700 cycles until 70% capacity retention. Several other companies are developing silicon anode materials, including Nexeon in the UK.
The LeydenJar silicon anode uses a porous structure and morphology that accommodates the expansion and contraction during cycling, ensuring the structural integrity and long-term performance of the cell.
Pure silicon columns are grown directly on the copper substrate with plasma vapour deposition (PECVD), an effective technology frequently used in the PV and semiconductor industry to grow thin films.
The sponge-like columns are porous and flexible, and lead to a high anode area loading, enabling energy density up to 1.350 Wh/l or 390 Wh/kg at lithiated stack level, while preventing breakage.
The PECVD process is scalable and affordable and the LeydenJar anodes are produced in a single process step on a roll-to-roll PECVD machine at the company factory in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
By replacing graphite with ultra-thin 100% silicon anodes, LeydenJar’s technology can increase the energy density of batteries by up to 50%, offering consumers longer battery life, more energy-efficient devices, and enhanced features such as onboard artificial intelligence. LeydenJar is actively working with leading cell manufacturers and OEMs to integrate its silicon anode technology into next-generation battery cells and devices.
“We are extremely proud of this breakthrough and the potential it unlocks for the future of energy storage,” says Christian Rood, CEO of LeydenJar. “This achievement represents the culmination of years of research and development, and we are excited to bring this technology to market. We look forward to collaborating with manufacturers to produce next-generation batteries with silicon anodes at its core.”
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