PFAS and Fluorine Free Battery Technology – Designed for Safety from the Atom Up

PFAS and Fluorine Free Battery Design – Designed for Safety from the Atom Up

There is a growing global concern over the effect on human and environmental health from bio- and environmental accumulation of the “forever-chemical” compounds per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS contain strong carbon-fluorine bonds which make them highly resilient chemicals which resist degradation when released into the environment. Widespread industrial use has led to increasing environmental accumulation of PFAS in surface water, groundwater, fish, and soil across the planet. From these environmental sources as well as from food packaging and cookware, PFAS then make their way into food and where they can be consumed, such that now many PFAS can be found at detectable levels in human blood [1]. The United States’ EPA and FDA as well as the EU ECHA have recently released reports of ongoing studies revealing serious human health risks posed by PFAS, including suppression of antibody production in children and increased risk of cancer [2-4].  

The use of certain PFAS has been regulated in Europe since 2009, and the number of restricted PFAS continues to grow as more is learned about their health and environmental impacts, with the US EPA recently announcing its intention to classify PFAS as hazardous substances [5-6].  However, thousands of these chemicals are currently known while the use of only a handful has thus far been restricted, and there are new fluorochemicals under development for a wide range of industrial applications. The study of each of these chemicals’ effects on human health and the environment takes time, and full understanding of the risks they pose lags significantly behind our ability to produce them at higher volumes and with broader molecular diversity, complicating that study.  

In pursuit of more durable, more energy dense battery technologies, the battery development community as well has gravitated toward higher and higher use of PFAS battery applications, further complicating the future of battery recycling [7]. One of the most ubiquitous PFAS in lithium-ion batteries is PVDF, often found in the cathode, and also occasionally present on the separator and at the anode interface.  The application of PFAS in liquid electrolytes has also provided researchers with unprecedented improvements in emerging battery performance when paired with metal anodes and high voltage cathodes, due to superior anodic stability and their propensity to form desirable LiF-rich solid-electrolyte interphase [8]. Performance should not come at the cost of safety, but for lithium ion batteries with liquid electrolytes, it has proven difficult to design a durable, long-lasting battery which does not contain harmful PFAS. 

At Blue Current, we consider both current and developing understanding of the materials which comprise our battery cells in a consistent effort to design for safety and sustainability. Our batteries not only contain no currently classified PFAS, but they contain no fluorine atoms at all. Blue Current’s proprietary battery chemistry combining composite inorganic-elastomeric electrolytes with abundant silicon-rich anodes and low- and no-cobalt high voltage cathodes require no fluorine to achieve industry-leading performance.  

Blue Current’s battery technology is designed for safety and sustainability from the atom up. In addition to eliminating fluorine from its battery technology stack, Blue Current leverages abundant silicon and sulfur materials paired with low- and no-cobalt cathode active materials to produce a battery which has superior safety, supply chain resiliency, and recycling efficiency compared to today’s lithium-ion batteries while delivering higher energy density.  

 

1 – PFAS in the US Population. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, CDC, 2024.

2 – PFAS Explained. United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2023.

3 – Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 2024.

4 – Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

5 – Registry of restriction intentions until outcome. European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), 2024.

6 – The EPA is proposing that ‘forever chemicals’ be considered hazardous substances. NPR, 2024

7 – Rensmo, A. et al., Lithium-ion battery recycling: a source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the environment? Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023; 25, 1015-1030.

8 – Narayan, Rekha and Robert Dominko. Fluorinated solvents for better batteries. Nature Reviews Chemistry, 2022; 6, 518.

...