In what could prove a significant breakthrough in the development of electric cars, UK-based Nexeon says it has produced 18650-type lithium-ion battery cells with the highest capacity for their size to date.
The cells are based on Nexeon’s silicon anode technology and have a capacity of 3.2Ah – by comparison, current lithium-ion cells have capacities ranging from 2.5Ah to 3.1Ah. Even more impressively, Nexeon claims it has achieved even higher capacities with lower discharge rates and hopes to deliver cells with a capacity of 4Ah next year.
In addition, the cycle life performance of the cells exceeds that of the best commercial cell when tested under the same conditions which could mean longer operating times for electronic products and greater range for electric vehicles.
Silicon is known to be a higher capacity lithium-ion battery electrode material but suffers because of its instability due to volume expansion during charge cycles. However, Nexeon has developed a way of modifying the morphology of the silicon to deliver extended cycle life and increase anode charge capacity.
The technology has been designed to be easy to adopt in existing lines and is an important milestone in battery development.
