Nexeon, a U.K.-based silicon anode producer, claims to have developed the world’s highest energy-capacity Li-ion batteries proportional to size, based on its silicon technology. According to a company press release, the cells hold a capacity of 3.2A. This exceeds that of commercially-available Li-ion batteries, which usually range between 2.5Ah and 3.1Ah.
Nexeon produced the advanced batteries by modifying the morphology of the silicon used to make the battery to prevent instability during charge cycles.
Li-ion batteries dominate the rechargeable batteries market through higher specifications, low self-discharge rate and absence of “memory effect,” but further advancement of the batteries is limited while carbon is used for the anode material.
Although silicon offers a more environmentally-friendly alternative to using carbon to create the batteries, the material can be physically instable during charge cycles – a challenge that Nexeon’s new cells address. The company said it was able to unleash the full potential of silicon as a battery anode through changing the form of the silicon.
“These performance figures show how the use of silicon allows us to break through the capacity ceiling for 18,650 cells which is seen with carbon-based anodes,” says Nexeon CEO Scott Brown. “To have already exceeded the performance of cells made in volume by the world’s best manufacturers gives us another huge confidence boost in the potential of our approach.”