Silicon deals boost battery lifetimes

Nexeon, a developer of silicon-based anodes, has signed a number of material-evaluation agreements (MEAs) with major automotive and battery companies.

The companies, whose names remain undisclosed, will use the agreement to sample Nexeon’s specially prepared silicon materials from the group’s pilot line.

According to the company, the use of silicon in its products offers better performance than current carbon materials, providing a lithium-storage capacity around 10 times greater than its carbon equivalent.

If trials are successful, the silicon-anode Li-ion batteries could be used to provide longer battery lifetimes for equipment such as laptops, smart phones and electric vehicles.

Dr Scott Brown, chief executive of Nexeon, said: ’We have seen tremendous interest in our progress towards high-performance batteries based on our anode technology. Further commercial progress is expected in the near future.’