RE:Elastic, ion-conducting polymer coating ... like graphene !It seem NanoGraft already wraps its silicon-based anodes in graphene, which acts like a flexible blanket when the anode expands, protecting it from corrosion.
Ref. : https://www.wired.com/story/where-was-the-battery-at-teslas-battery-day/
But NanoXplore is the biggest and the cheapest graphene producer of the world and has many intellectual property for mass production.
Tesla + NanoXplore = silicon anode with graphene coating
Nemesis wrote: I think the elastic, ion-conducting polymer coating use to stabilize surface of silicon could be a graphene polymer developed by NanoXplore (https://www.nanoxplore.ca/investor/).
A highly elastic and conducting binder ... like a graphene polymer !
Here is an excerpt from a press release dated April 3, 2020 (https://www.nanoxplore.ca/nanoxplore-announces-closing-of-25-million-bought-deal-private-placement-and-corporate-update/) :
[...] the Corporation would also like to announce that it will be extending its focus on graphene battery initiatives and plans to expand its in-house graphene compounding production capacity.
NanoXplore’s graphene battery related activities represent over five years of R&D development that has been achieved internally and in collaboration with partners. These initiatives have produced a strong intellectual property (IP) portfolio and know-how within multiple graphene battery applications. More specifically, adding graphene to current Li-ion chemistries, with a focus on silicon-enabled Li-ion anodes, will improve energy capacity and charging speeds. The potential end-markets of these graphene-enhanced batteries can be applied to electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and electric trucks and buses. To progress further with this initiative, the Corporation plans to create a dedicated graphene battery R&D lab to support a pre-feasibility plan in creating a pilot line to produce graphene-enhanced anodes and Li-ion batteries.
Dr. Soroush Nazarpour, President and CEO of NanoXplore, commented:
“We are thrilled to be in a position to further explore and apply our graphene technology to Li-ion batteries. We believe graphene significantly enhances the performance of the current Li-ion battery anodes. Having said that, the current selling price of graphene has become a roadblock in the commercial adoption within the battery supply chain. Our low-cost graphene production technology enables us to reduce, or even remove, spherical graphite from Li-ion battery anodes. This price advantage will help address future bottlenecks in the Li-ion battery supply chain. I believe this is a great medium-term growth opportunity for NanoXplore and we anticipate investing $2,000,000 on this initiative over the next 24 months.”