Altech Chemicals (ASX: ATC) has announced an expansion of its research and development laboratories in Perth, Western Australia to allow the production of pouch cell-sized batteries to progress to the next stage of its silumina anodes project.
Late last year, the emerging battery materials producer successfully incorporated alumina-coated silicon into the graphite anode of lithium-ion batteries, unveiling a battery with 30% more energy capacity and increased cyclability than a conventional graphite-only lithium-ion battery.
At the time, performance testing was conducted with industry-standard coin cell rechargeable batteries, which can be a useful comparison at the early research stage but have limitations due to their design and construction.
To assess anode material against electric vehicle application targets, Altech said a scale-up from coin cell to pouch cell-size is necessary.
Expansion of research and development labs
Manufacturing a pouch cell with multiple layers requires more anode material and additional cell-making equipment. During the 2022 first quarter, Altech installed and commissioned a larger-scale tube furnace in its Perth laboratory, which has the capability of producing larger kilogram samples per batch.
The company believes having an in-house pouch cell production and testing facility can enable the testing of scenarios of electrical abuse (where the cell is required to operate outside nominal voltage and current limitations) and physical and environmental abuse (where the cell is subjected to temperature extremes or mechanical deformation).
Pouch cell batteries
A pouch cell lithium-ion battery comes in a vacuum-packed thin plate shape and contains many layers of thin cathode and anode electrodes. Conductive foil tabs welded to the electrode and sealed to the pouch carry the positive and negative terminals to the outside.
This pouch cell design is currently used in consumer, military and automotive applications. Altech plans to assemble its pouch cells for high-power applications.
Electrochemical tests will apply on both coin cells and pouch cells with the same electrode to know whether the performance measured in coin cells is representative of full-sized cells.
Altech believes it is also important to understand the different contributions of mechanical and thermal factors to the degradation process in each cell format. Once optimised in electrochemical properties, the company will also undertake a safety test on pouch cells using its silumina anodes material in-house or collaborate with external laboratories.
