Battery materials producer 6K has signed a joint development agreement with Michigan-based energy storage company Our Next Energy (ONE) to develop and produce a battery material that ONE will use in its dual-chemistry Gemini battery and LFP Aries battery pack.

The companies will develop two chemistries that include iron phosphate and manganese. “Early collaboration will start in 6K Energy’s Battery Center of Excellence located in North Andover, Massachusetts where both teams will work jointly on qualification and performance targets,” says 6K.

The companies also agreed to use 6K’s UniMelt technology—a proprietary microwave plasma production system—to process cathode materials at ONE’s plant in the US.

“By onshoring our cell manufacturing and battery materials and implementing a localized supply chain, ONE will be able to reduce our product’s carbon emissions by 34%,” says ONE’s VP of Strategy and Government Relations Dr. Deena Ahmed. “Implementing 6K’s UniMelt technology will help ONE further drive down our emissions.”

“6K’s UniMelt system replaces a lengthy, multi-step, high-waste chemical process with one that is ultra-clean and ultra-fast (as low as 2 seconds), and powered by a 6,000-degree microwave plasma,” according to 6K. “Compared to state-of-the-art cathode active material (CAM) plants today, 6K Energy uses half the footprint, [and has] substantially lower CapEx and lower conversion costs. Implementing a 6K Energy solution for CAM production in the US has the potential to save billions of dollars and eliminate solid and liquid hazardous waste while reducing water usage by 90%.”

Source: 6K