ION produced a cell with performance that’s compelling to replace a huge portion of the lithium-ion market.
By Prabhat Ranjan Mishra
Representational image of solid state batteries.
AMaryland-based maker of solid-state batteries achieved a major milestone in commercializing its solid energy storage devices. ION Storage Systems (ION) achieved 800 cycles in its solid-state battery (SSB) cells without the need of compression or volume change.
With a non-compression anodeless design, the company is the first to achieve this milestone.
Traditionally, compression has been a major impediment to SSB’s success.
Stable cycling observed in SSB cells
“The stable cycling that we’ve repeatedly observed in our R&D cells is the culmination of key innovations by ION’s ceramic scientists and battery scientists over the past several years,” said Dr. Nicholas Hudak, Director of Cell R&D at ION.
The combination of ION’s next-generation ceramic electrolyte and unique cell architecture has enabled the only known anodeless, compressionless, lithium-metal battery that can cycle with this level of stability at 298.15 K (25°C).
The company has claimed that it built a world-class team of scientists, engineers, and operations staff who are rapidly solving technical challenges to bring this technology to a commercially relevant scale.
ION cell’s performance compelling to replace a huge portion of lithium-ion market
“I’m extremely proud of this latest accomplishment. It is unprecedented for an anodeless cell to reach this kind of cycle life without compression,” said ION’s CTO Dr. Greg Hitz.
Hitz maintained that ION has now produced a cell with performance that’s compelling to replace a huge portion of the lithium-ion market. Next plan is to build it into commercial format, multilayer cells off ION’s pilot line and doing so with high repeatability to put in customers’ hands.
“Early glimpses of our larger format cells are looking just as promising, and I can’t wait to share them with everyone. This team keeps knocking down milestones and I couldn’t be more excited for the coming months,” added Hitz.
For commercial customers, the company plans to release its first generation of SSB product in late 2024.
The company claims that its anodeless technology provides a safe and more powerful alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries. SSB cells also eliminate the need for less sustainable materials such as graphite with the use of a revolutionary 3-D ceramic structure.
SSB platform, which have the ability to accommodate existing and future cathode technologies, provides simple and cost-effective manufacturing at scale.
ION’s simple drop-in replacement design for Li-Ion batteries can greatly accelerate the adoption of ION’s SSB in applications including consumer electronics, medical devices, electric vehicles, grid storage, and aerospace & defense, said the company in a press release.
The company is now poised to manufacture its patented solid-state batteries at scale. ION is collaborating with various government agencies to demonstrate the viability of ION’s solid-state batteries to sustain operations in highly challenging environments.
In June, ION said it will receive $20 million from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) as part of a three-year, $40 million partnership with several world-class commercialization partners.
The company also partnered with Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest ceramics, glass and material suppliers to accelerate the commercialization of ION’s high-performing, anodeless SSB cells will not be able to solve it.
