US Military Invests In New Silicon Battery, Possible EV Connection

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The US Division of Protection has been notoriously cautious when the subject turns to automobile electrification, nevertheless it has been on the prowl for next-generation moveable batteries. Within the newest growth, the US agency NanoGraf has simply introduced production-scale orders for its new silicon battery, designed with navy use in thoughts. Powering moveable digital gear for troopers is the quick intention, however hints of an EV battery have additionally been rising.

Unpacking The US Navy Battery Burden

The digital navy gear of at this time requires batteries, and loads of them, to energy the growing load of moveable digital gear carried by troopers. In addition they must have further batteries readily available in case of loss or injury, including much more to the burden.

A lighter, longer lasting, and extra dependable battery would assist ease the load, and that’s the place NanoGraf is available in. In 2020, the Chicago-based agency introduced a $1.65 million partnership with DOD to develop a silicon battery for moveable digital gear. The brand new battery sports activities a silicon anode as a substitute for the graphite historically utilized in lithium-ion batteries.

The thought of a silicon battery has been cooking for some time. NanoGraf spun off from a analysis undertaking underneath the wing of the US Division of Power’s Argonne Nationwide Laboratory and an entrepreneurship program at Northwestern College all the way in which again in 2012.

In 2016 the Power Division’s Workplace of Scientific and Technical Info took an enthusiastic dive into NanoGraf’s silicon battery. On the time, NanoGraf was nonetheless working underneath its former identify, SiNode.

“SiNode’s core technology was developed at one of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs), the Center for Electrical Energy Storage (CEES) at Argonne National Laboratory (in partnership with Northwestern University) and allows a battery to store a greater amount of lithium, thereby charging faster and lasting longer than conventional batteries,” OSTI defined.

Particularly, OSTI famous that the capability of SiNode’s silicon concoction may very well be tweaked to supply for a variety of capacities between 1000 mAh/g and greater than 2500 mAh/g, far outstripping the 372 mAh/g capability of graphite anodes.

Northwestern College has additionally started keeping track of NanoGraf because the early days.

“Formerly SiNode Systems, NanoGraf pursues advances in Lithium-ion battery anodes to transform a wide range of industries from consumer electronics to electric vehicles,” Northwestern explains.

“SiNode’s anode technology utilizes a composite of silicon nano-particles within a patent-pending graphene scaffolding system that increases a battery’s energy density (5-7 times) and reduces the charging time of a lithium-ion battery (up to a factor of 10),” they add.

A Silicon Battery With A Graphene Secret

For those who caught that factor about graphene scaffolding, that’s the important thing. Graphene is an ultra-thin however super-strong version of graphite. You possibly can DIY graphene by utilizing a bit of sticky tape to carry a sheet of atoms from a piece of graphite. That’s kind of what its discoverers did once they first described the fabric in 2004 (see tons more graphene background here).

One other trace about EV purposes emerged in 2019, when Argonne introduced that its Middle for Electrochemical Power Science at Argonne Nationwide Laboratory received an award from the Power Division for its work on the silicon-graphene anode.

Placing that apart for now, the most recent information from Nanograf appeared on July 16, when the corporate introduced preliminary orders to supply its M38 18650 silicon battery for the US navy. Although not releasing any names, NanoGraf described the orderers as “leading global aerospace and defense technology contractors.”

The batteries will probably be used primarily for hand-held radios. NanoGraf expects them to last as long as 15% longer than the batteries at the moment in use.

“In January, NanoGraf announced a new contract with the U.S. Army worth up to $15 million to develop cross-compatible batteries for soldiers in the field, which brought NanoGraf’s total U.S. Department of Defense funding to $45 million,” the corporate additionally famous.

A part of that funding went to assemble a new NanoGraf battery factory in Chicago. “Once in operation, it will be the first high-volume manufacturing facility of its kind in the US,” CleanTechnica famous.

What About These New Silicon EV Batteries?

Sure, what about them. In 2021 CleanTechnica took observe of DOD’s automobile decarbonization journeynoting that “NanoGraf let word slip that it reached a record-setting ‘breakthrough in energy density of silicon anode cells enable longer-lasting, lighter weight, and shortened charge cycles for consumer electronics, electric vehicles, military equipment and more.’”

To be clear, the DOD is nowhere close to electrifying its fleet, actually not its tanks. Again in 2010, the US Military explored the thought of utilizing fuel cells in an Abrams tankhowever that was simply to supply electrical energy for auxiliary capabilities.

Non-tactical automobiles, then again, are honest recreation. The US Military Corps of Engineers, for instance, is looking at a sporty new EV for off-road use associated to its infrastructure initiatives and emergency response.

As for the silicon EV battery angle, on June tenth, NanoGraf credited the Protection Division, amongst others, with supporting the event of its new 800 watt-hour per liter (Wh/L) silicon battery. The brand new battery “provides compelling benefits for virtually any application — from consumer electronics to electric vehicle batteries to the batteries that power the equipment soldiers use during operations,” NanoGraf enthused.

“One of the biggest opportunities for more energy-dense batteries lies with electric vehicles, where ‘range anxiety’ is a major impediment to mainstream adoption,” NanoGraf emphasised.

“NanoGraf’s new cell technology could immediately provide a boost to electric vehicles, such as the Tesla Model S, which would last approximately 28 percent longer on a single charge compared to similar vehicles on the road today,” the corporate additional asserted.

Certainly! Good luck promoting potential Tesla consumers on that proposition. Right here within the US, the bloom has been off the Tesla rose for quite a lot of causes, and final week’s report within the Wall Avenue Journal didn’t assist a lot. In accordance with the paper’s sources, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dedicated to spending $45 million monthly to assist former President Trump over the end line on Election Day 2024.

That continues to be to be seen. On July 22, USA Today columnist Chris Brennan suggested ready till the test clears. Within the meantime, why ought to NanoGraf cease at Tesla? NanoGraf designed the brand new silicon battery as a drop-in alternative that any variety of EV battery can merely, properly, drop in.

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Picture: The US Division of Protection is adopting a brand new excessive efficiency silicon battery from the the Chicago agency NanoGraf, which can also be eyeballing the electric vehicle market (digital warfare specialists assigned to 2nd Infantry Brigade Fight Group, twenty fifth Infantry Division, courtesy of US Military).