TU-TESL

• 22

According to foreign media reports, group14 technologies, a U.S. battery materials company, received a US $18 million financing to expand the production of the next generation of negative materials and enter commercial production. Including ATL, BASF, Showa electric, Cabot, OVP and other international well-known enterprises participated in the investment. "The lithium ion industry is actively seeking higher performance anode materials to improve battery performance, and group14's silicon carbon composite materials have a unique position in meeting this demand ” Rick, co founder and CEO of group14 technologies Working with the most influential players in the field, Luebe said, we will play an important role in the realization of real electric vehicles. ” group14 is a company spun off from energ2, focusing on the research and development of nano materials that can improve the performance of batteries. Group14's expertise in nanomaterials and manufacturing has led to the development of novel ways to produce silicon and incorporate it into carbon to produce new silicon carbon composites for batteries. Group14 said that the company's silicon carbon anode material can improve the battery's charging capacity by 40% compared with the current industry standard graphite anode. It is understood that the breakthrough of group14 technologies is the extensive composition of material and process patents, which enables it to combine porous carbon of nanostructure with silicon to form sponge like composite materials. This structure can provide high capacity and structural integrity, and extend the cycle life of the battery. At the same time, the material can greatly reduce the cost of lithium battery. "We have a strong interest in group14 technologies' silicon carbon composite as a high-performance anode material for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. ” Joe kit Chu Lam, executive vice president of ATL, said: "the product has high first cycle efficiency, excellent cycle life and direct compatibility with existing graphite anode processes and equipment. ” in order to further improve the energy density of lithium batteries, battery enterprises are actively developing new lithium battery materials, among which high nickel positive electrode + silicon carbon negative electrode has become a new material system for battery enterprises to develop high specific energy batteries. At present, high nickel materials have been widely used in the power battery market, but the commercialization of silicon carbon anode materials is still slow. The main reason is that silicon carbon anode is prone to expansion and low cycle life.