Seattle-based EnerG2 has announced improvements to its line of lithium-ion batteries that it says significantly boost capacity and power performance. The company’s new product blends carbon and silicon, including electrochemically active hard carbon. According to the company, its silicon-carbon solution provides a fivefold improvement in cycle life while maintaining a dramatic improvement in energy density compared to high-capacity silicon anodes.

Energ2’s manufacturing facility in Albany, Oregon has been upgraded to be compatible with the new carbon-silicon solution.

“Our competitors are still working in the lab,” said CEO Rick Luebbe. “Meanwhile, we’re able to work rapidly at large scale, because this new product is a drop-in for our existing plant. US manufacturing as a whole will benefit from our breakthrough, now that we’re competing as a successful lithium-ion battery materials supplier against Korea, Japan and China.”

Silicon has always presented a problem with changes in volume during the charge and discharge cycle – expansion and contraction of the silicon effectively damages the battery, reducing storage capacity and cycle life. EnerG2’s composite of silicon and carbon addresses this issue – the company sees it as a major advance over previous attempts to use the inherently high lithium ion storage capacity of silicon.

“EnerG2’s carbon-silicon solution for lithium-ion batteries was the obvious next step in product development for us,” said CTO Dr. Aaron Feaver. “We had already developed the best hard carbon in the world, with superior capacity, power, and efficiency, so it was a natural evolution for us to use our hard carbon as a structurally reinforcing and electrochemical-enhancing backbone for silicon.”   

Source: EnerG2