HONG KONG (PRWEB) September 18, 2018
For the past few years Hong Kong-based SC Technologies (“SCT”) and its global affiliates have been ramping up the commercial-scale production of their new high capacity Silicon Composite Anode Material (Si-C) for use in next generation Lithium Ion Batteries (LIBs). To introduce the product to a wider audience, the Company today announced it will provide free samples of its Si-C material to prospective customers such as LIB OEMs for consumer electronic devices, electric vehicles, power tools, and energy storage systems.
Global efforts to develop next generation high energy LIBs to enable longer driving range EVs and high-performance battery powered 3C devices are underway. As one of the key materials for next generation LIBs, the past decade has seen a worldwide collaborative effort in developing a viable high capacity silicon anode material. The challenge is that silicon expands and contracts over 360% during charge-discharge cycles and this causes the battery performance to quickly fade. Many research institutes, university laboratories, and related industries have proposed and studied novel Si structures for use in a LIB anode. Some of these Si structures seem to deliver promising performance and possibly provide solutions to a next generation Si-enabled high energy LIB.
When it comes to commercializing Si anode material and technology, many silicon anode developers are still struggling to scale up their production in a cost-effective and timely manner. Over the past few years SCT has been able to overcome many of the related Si performance and engineering challenges in scaling up its Si-C Composite production. The company has successfully adapted its core SiC-FBR process to a similar polysilicon production process, thus enabling SCT to scale-up in a more streamlined and cost-effective approach.
“With their polysilicon industry partners, SCT is well positioned to ramp up to hundreds of tons of Si-C production very quickly and with a relatively low CAPEX,” says Lee Harrison, a Massachusetts-based energy storage and power industry researcher. Harrison added, “Most SiO and Silicon-Carbon materials currently on the market can only be used as additives that are to be mixed in with graphite anodes, these additives are sometimes called silicon anode precursors. Because SCT’s Si-C material works as a stand-alone LIB anode material and/or in combination with graphite anode materials, SCT’s Si-C material is well positioned to fulfil almost any LIB OEM requirements.”
The Si-C Composite was originally developed by California Lithium Battery Inc. (CLB), a Los Angeles based high tech company. In 2017 SCT became the owner of CLB’s Si-C Asia IP. During 2017 to 2018, based on the CLB Gen1 SiC-FBR process and equipment design, SCT and CLB further developed and installed a Gen2 Si-C production system, which is currently successfully operating in Anaheim, California. Starting from 2013, the Si-C material produced from CLB’s different generation reactors have been tested by many LIB, EV and 3C device manufacturers, as well as research institutes. Recent independent testing has shown that the SCT Gen 2 Si-C anode material possess over 1,000mAh/g capacity (vs. 350mAh/g of current graphite anodes) with a high first cycle efficiency, long cycle life and low swelling.
According to Dr. Junbing Yang, SCT President/CTO and the inventor of SCT’s Si-C anode material, “Different from other silicon-carbon LIB anodes, the SCT SiC-FBR process embeds sub-micron Si particles into a carbonaceous matrix and creates a strong binding force between the matrix and Si particles. This unique structure prevents the Si particles from migrating and agglomerating into big particles during the charge-discharge process, which is a major failure mechanism of many Si anodes” Further, Dr. Yang said, “We are happy to say that after many years of engineering efforts, we are able to produce a stable Si-C material structure in our Gen2 FBR reactor, with improved anode performance compared to our many previous reactors. The M series Si-C product (800mAh/g capacity) we will be sampling to prospective customers will exceed most LIB OEMs’ needs now and for the next five years.”
SCT is a Hong Kong based private company and the owner of California Lithium Battery’s Si-C Asia IP. The SCT Si-C material is now in pilot-scale (MTs) production in California and is ramping up into full-scale commercial production in Asia starting in 2019.
For more information about the SCT Si-C material, global sampling and collaborative opportunities, please contact Mr. Phillip Roberts, CEO of SCT via email phil(at)sct.com.hk.