Silicon-first
Battery
Technology
Blue Current imagined the future battery and is working to deliver it with three critical performance vectors. The first is to enable the highest possible silicon content to maximize energy density. The second is that the battery must cycle well at low operating pressure reducing the need for extra packaging material. The third is that it must be safe as measured by the thermal stability of the battery materials at high temperatures. Blue Current believes that it is the first to deliver on all three of these metrics using what it refers to as a silicon-first approach with elastic composite electrolyte technology.
Blue Current's Silicon Elastic Composite Battery
Solid State Anode
10x higher silicon content
Full Chemistry System
Enables high performance, low-pressure operation
Composite Separator
Thin composite separator
Cathode
Optimized for fully dry operation
Delivering on All Three Vectors of Future Battery Performance
10X Silicon Content
for Energy Density
Low Operating Pressure
1 MPA for Improved Packaging
Fully Dry Chemistry
for Safety
Combining Polymers and Ceramics to Enable Silicon
Blue Current combines compliant polymers for adhesion and elasticity with ceramics for ionic conductivity. Electrolyte particles are tied to the silicon particles by strands of polymers, preventing additional SEI formation. Polymers also constrain swelling of the active material, enabling the silicon particles to cycle at low pressure without expanding dramatically. Traditional solid electrolytes lack elasticity leading to the need for high operating pressure to prevent swelling of the battery cells.
- Blue Current elastic composite electrolyte particle
- Traditional solid electrolyte particle
- Silicon active material particle
Silicon-first Design
Silicon is one of the most abundant material on earth. It also stores ten times more lithium ions than traditional graphite anode materials. With our silicon elastic composite technology we’re able to achieve over 1000 cycles using 10x more silicon than state of the art lithium-ion cells, thus reducing the thickness of the anode by 50% and creating a path to 1000 Wh/L.
Low Operating Pressure
For fully dry ASSB to be commercially viable, operating pressure needs to be become irrelevant. Customers tell us that this should be no more than 1.0 – 1.5 MPa for EVs and 0.1-0.5 MPa for devices – similar to the pressure in a bicycle tire. We’re already testing cells below 1 MPa and we plan to continue driving further pressure reductions over time.
Safe Chemistry
Our multilayer cells have been tested by an independent 3rd-party lab using nail, crush and overcharge testing. This testing showed no thermal runaway, venting or ejection of internal materials. We are encouraged by these results and plan to scale our safety tests as our pilot factory is built.
High Volume Manufacturing
Our full dry chemistry can be produced using the same high-volume manufacturing equipment currently used in lithium-ion pouch cell production. This includes mixing, coating, calendaring and stacking. Unlike traditional battery production, we do not require the costly steps of formation and aging, which are assumed to be roughly 5% of the overall cost of a traditional LIB battery cell.
The proposed work is scientifically meritorious and revolutionary.
US Department of Energy