Breakthrough discovery brings rechargeable batteries to the next stage of performance

Published on Monday, 16 May 2011 09:35

 

By Stephanie Schmitt

Takeaway: A breakthrough discovery has been made which increases the capability of batteries to store much more energy than former materials allow. The newly developed 5-volt electrolyte and cathode by Wildcat Discovery Technologies could result in battery performance improvements of 25 to 61 percent or more in electric cars, portable electronics, military, medical devices and other demanding applications…

The discovery of a new cathode material and electrolyte that increases the storage ability of batteries sets new standards for the rechargeable battery industry.

Company History

Wildcat Discovery Technologies was founded in late 2006 and has raised US$16.5 million in venture funding. In addition to this that have gathered profits from more than 40 research projects with major manufacturers. One of the founders, Peter Schultz, is a professor at the Scripps Research Institute and a pioneer of high-throughput combinatorial chemistry.

“The idea behind combinatorial chemistry, used in the pharmaceutical industry, is based on how the human body immune system works: producing antibodies and multiplying them”, explains Jon Jacobs, VP of Wildcat. The research team took this approach in the production of new energy storage materials.

Finding a new material

The development of high voltage batteries is challenging as higher voltages quickly destroy conventional electrolyte liquids that conduct ions between the electrodes. However, the variant of lithium cobalt phosphate that Wildcat are using survives this high voltage. The Wildcat Research & Development team paired the material with different new electrolyte recipes. For the CM1 cathode material alone, the researchers synthesised and evaluated more than 3000 materials in just eight months; using conventional methods this research process would have taken years.

The new material provides an outstanding energy density of more than 675 Watt hours/kg while operating in full cells at 5 volts; these are levels beyond today’s battery industry standards. Wildcat’s EM1, a novel 5V electrolyte formulation, and CM1, a new high voltage cathode material, delivered a 25% improvement in gravimetric energy density and a 61% improvement in volumetric energy density in the electrode, compared with existing materials with equivalent attributes.

Whilst handling more than 100 charge/discharge cycles in full-cell testing the new components have the expected power and safety performance comparable to lithium iron phosphate.

New world of batteries

Wildcat’s advantage is that from producing the material to testing it in the actual device – a battery – they carry through about 1500 unique materials every single week. To get a perspective, a big battery company producing and testing internally might look at two to ten compositions in a week compared to Wildcat’s count of 1500.

Mark Gresser, Wildcat’s President & CEO, further explains, “when batteries hold more energy, it creates new options for design engineers - electric cars can go further; tablets, laptops and smart phones can be smaller with no loss of runtime; soldier packs can be lighter and implanted medical devices can last longer before the need for replacement surgery. And while our initial tests have shown a 61 percent improvement in energy density, this is just the beginning – because the EM1 electrolyte is stable at 5-volt operation, it opens the door to development of a new world of cathode materials that should bring even greater advances.”

What’s next?

Wildcat focuses on the discovery of advanced materials for clean energy technology applications such as materials for lithium-ion battery electrodes, printable electronic inks, hydrogen storage and carbon capture.

“With the robotics, automation and equipment one half of the Wildcat business model is to do the research for other companies using their own input and accelerating the outcome”, states Jon Jacobs. The other half is dedicated to their own research, which succeeded in finding the 5-volt electrolyte and cathode materials. The currently produced test batches show the potential of the new material and the company hopes to license the technology to material suppliers and battery cell producers.

Related Links

Wildcat Discovery Technologies