New EV Battery Solution Eliminates Toxic PFAS Chemicals

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Everybody has the jitters in regards to the destiny of the US electrical car market after President Joe Biden peacefully arms over the reins of energy on January 20. Everybody, that’s, besides prime buyers just like the GM Ventures department of Normal Motors. The agency has simply co-lead a brand new $44 million spherical of financing aimed toward bringing a brand new PFAS-free power storage answer to market, gilding the inexperienced lily with EV battery efficiency enhancements as nicely.

A New Resolution For The EV Battery PFAS Drawback

GM Ventures and Catalus Capital spearheaded the $44 million financing spherical on behalf of the Massachusetts startup Nanoramic, which has been laboring in semi-obscurity over the EV battery PFAS drawback since spinning out of MIT in 2009. That was proper across the time CleanTechnica hit the Intertubes, so we’ve some catching as much as do.

Nanoramic has provide you with a PFAS-free, drop-in alternative for the standard binders generally utilized in EV battery electrodes in addition to different lithium-ion battery purposes. EV battery binders usually don’t get numerous media consideration, however they train important affect over battery value and efficiency.

The compound PVDF is a typical EV battery binder that falls into the PFAS class, although some trade stakeholders have resisted the classification.

By drop-in alternative for PVDF, Nanoramic actually means drop in. Beneath the proprietary identify Neocarbonix®, the brand new binder is absolutely suitable with present lithium-ion EV battery manufacturing strains. Nanoramic can be aiming at the marketplace for each different type of power storage together with cellular units in addition to stationary battery arrays.

New EV Battery Banishes NMP Solvents, Too

Eliminating PFAS “forever” toxic chemicals within the EV battery provide chain is a major step up the sustainability ladder for electrical car stakeholders however wait, there’s extra. Nanoramic has additionally found out a strategy to skip the poisonous solvent NMP (n-methylpyrrolidone) in favor of water and alcohol.

NMP has stubbornly inserted itself into the Li-ion battery manufacturing course of amongst many (many) different industrial purposes. In typical EV battery manufacturing, the PVDF binder is a brief repair wanted to maintain the fabric collectively till it is able to be dissolved outwith the dissolving executed by an NMP solvent.

“Neocarbonix replaces PVDF binder with a carbon binding structure, which improves both the electric conductivity and mechanical properties of the battery. Additionally, this eliminates the need for NMP solvent,” Nanoramic explains.

Also referred to as 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone or N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, NMP was the topic of a brand new willpower by the US Environmental Safety Company over the summer time, and it wasn’t fairly.

“EPA determined that NMP presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health due to the significant adverse health effects associated with exposure to NMPincluding developmental post-implantation fetal loss from short-term exposure and reduced fertility and fecundity from long-term exposure,” EPA wrote into the Federal Register on June 14.

Ouch!

“Additional adverse effects associated with exposure to NMP include liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, skin irritation, and sensitization,” EPA continued, earlier than diving into a top level view of proposed new controls and restrictions on using NMP.

On the plus aspect, EPA notes that EV battery producers are among the many industrial stakeholders which have already established the sorts of worker exposure controls that EPA expects below the proposed new guidelines. Nonetheless, ditching NMP altogether provides a fool-proof layer of employee security whereas chopping associated prices.

“Neocarbonix® is fundamentally a force multiplier – it is designed to replace conventional binders in battery electrodes and targets far-reaching improvements in battery costenergy density, power, fast charging, worker safety, manufacturing energy consumption, and supply chain security,” Nanoramic defined in a press launch earlier this morning.

Constructing A Higher EV Battery

For the report, the $44 million financing spherical included Samsung Ventures and Prime Materials together with present buyers Fortistar Capital and WindSail Capital Group amongst others.

“The investment will significantly bolster Nanoramic’s efforts to commercialize its groundbreaking Neocarbonix^® technology across a broad range of industries and applications,” Nanoramic defined.

That continues to be to be seen, however the prize is a tantalizing one when it comes to inexperienced advertising and marketing in addition to EV battery efficiency. “Nanoramic’s proprietary Neocarbonix electrode technology enables battery makers to transition towards environmentally friendly manufacturing and green batteriesplacing them at the forefront of energy transition sustainability,” Nanoramic explains.

The elimination of NMP has a sustainability and value benefit over and above eradicating poisonous chemical compounds from the availability chain. “Neocarbonix reduces the carbon footprint of Li-ion battery manufacturing by 25%. This is possible by eliminating the need for NMP, which makes the drying stage of electrode manufacturing very energy intensive due to its high boiling point and low vapor pressure,” Nanoramic explains.

The round economic system additionally comes into play. PVDF is likely one of the components that make EV battery recycling troublesome and costly. Re-using the energetic materials in electrodes usually requires an energy-intensive strategy of atomic breakdown and buildup. In distinction, Nanoramic states that the energetic materials in NMC cathodes made with Neocarbonix may be reused straight.

What EV Gross sales Disaster?

On December 4, the US Data Company took observe of estimates from Wards Intelligence, exhibiting that the mixture of light-duty hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-only EV gross sales reached one other report, rising from 19.1% of complete gross sales to 21.2%.

“This increase in the electric and hybrid vehicle market share was driven primarily by BEV sales,” EIA emphasised. “BEV gross sales proceed to extend, with the share rising from 7.4% of the U.S. (mild dutey car) market in 2Q24 to eight.9% in 3Q24.

Of specific curiosity is the energy of EV gross sales within the luxurious market, the place BEVs accounted for 35.8% of gross sales in Q3. That’s fairly spectacular, although EIA notes that luxurious gross sales have been falling since 2017 as extra inexpensive EVs enter the market.

All else being equal, a major drop in the price of an EV battery might assist improve gross sales within the inexpensive EV finish of the market, whether or not or not the present federal tax credit score disappears after President Biden leaves workplace — that’s, if all goes in line with plan.

The Loan Programs Office of the US Division of Power has been distributing funds earmarked for EV manufacturing within the US by means of a carve-out within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation. If the commitments stand agency towards interference from the incoming administration, preserve an eye fixed out for enhancements in the domestic battery supply chain together with LFP technologyin addition to multi-billion greenback investments from Stellar and Rivian amongst others.

Comply with me by way of LinkTreeor @tinamcasey on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

Picture: The US startup Nanoramic underscores the underside line advantages of sustainable EV battery manufacturing with a brand new electrode answer that eliminates toxic PFAS chemicals and NMP solventstoo (screenshot cropped, courtesy of Nanoramic).