Promising significant improvements in energy density and performance, silicon anodes offer an exciting alternative to the incumbent graphite anodes used. While silicon material has been used in the anode in small quantities of <5 wt%, moving beyond its use as an additive has proved difficult due to its inherent volume expansion and resulting stability and cycle life issues. However, silicon anode technology has steadily improved over the past 10-15 years, allowing cells to use anywhere from 5-100% silicon in the anode.
Highlighting the continued interest in the technology, developments in 2022 include
Nexeon raising US$200M in funding and licensing material to SKC,
Amprius' decision to go public, Group14 Technologies' US$400M funding round, and the acquisition of Tera Technos by POSCO Holdings. In addition, Amprius delivered 450 Wh/kg commercial cells for use in satellites, while the Whoop 4.0 fitness wearable released in September 2021 utilizes Sila Nano's silicon anode technology. Combined, these developments point to the maturing of the silicon anode market with the adoption of advanced silicon anode materials in a variety of applications becoming increasingly likely. As such,
IDTechEx forecast considerable growth in the adoption of silicon anode materials, though graphite is still expected to remain the dominant anode through to the 2030s.
5 Key Routes to Better Li-Ion Batteries | IDTechEx Research Article| IDTechEx Research Article