August 21, 2024: A new study has shown Echion Technologies’ fast charging XNO anode material can be in direct contact with water for extended periods of time without any effect on its electrochemical and physical performance, the company said on August 19.
Echion, which has been awarded a total of £1.46 million ($1.8 million) from the UK government toward commercialization of its niobium-based XNO anode material, said samples were submerged in water for six months and then dried at a temperature of 60°C.
Once removed from the water and dried, the material samples passed a series of quality control checks, which indicated that its chemical and physical properties were unchanged by the presence of water.
Joris Pezin, Echion product manager, said: “We are committed to conducting continuous testing, improvement works and enhancements to ensure that XNO can be adopted as a ‘drop in’ solution by cell manufacturers.
“XNO’s chemical resistance to water means that is can be safely included in water-based manufacturing processes and easily stored.”
Pezin said XNO also has a micrometric structure so that no agglomerates occur during the manufacturing of batteries — meaning it is easier to mix and produces a better yield than competitor materials.
In addition, XNO’s high crystal density and micrometric size means it can easily be calendared to 3.0g/cm3, which is similar to that of a cathode material, Pezin said.
According to Echion, XNO offers long cycle life, superfast charging capability and increased safety in lithium ion batteries for use in heavy duty industrial and grid storage applications.
The company said previously it has a manufacturing partnership with Brazil-based niobium miner CBMM to achieve a 2,000 tonne per year XNO supply capacity this year.
Last September, Echion said it would accelerate the scale-up and commercialization of XNO thanks to a significant, undisclosed investment from Volta Energy Technologies.
Echion’s study results in detail are online.
