24M has announced that the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded $3.5 million in funding to a team that includes 24M, Sepion Technologies, Berkeley Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University. The funds will be used to develop novel membranes and lithium-metal anodes for the next generation of high-energy-density, low-cost batteries.
“We look forward to bringing our team’s innovations to market in a new class of safe, ultra-high-energy density, ultra-low-cost batteries that will propel the energy revolution and enable the holy grail of EV ‘range euphoria.’”
24M’s core technology is semisolid lithium-ion, a new class of lithium-ion batteries that will be initially deployed in stationary storage. With this ARPA-E program, 24M and its partners will extend the capabilities of semisolid electrodes to ultra-high-energy density cells that use lithium-metal anodes. Lithium metal is recognized as an enabler of high-energy density in rechargeable batteries, but has heretofore not been sufficiently stable for aggressive long-life applications. 24M and its partners have identified a new approach to stabilizing the lithium-metal anode, which, when combined with the inherent cost advantages of semisolid lithium-ion technology, can realize the energy-density promise of lithium metal, safely and at low cost.
“As 24M nears commercial shipment of its first generation of energy storage products based on semisolid lithium-ion technology originally developed under ARPA-E support, we are excited to tackle a new grand challenge with partners Sepion Technologies, Berkeley Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University,” said Throop Wilder, CEO and Co-founder of 24M. “We look forward to bringing our team’s innovations to market in a new class of safe, ultra-high-energy density, ultra-low-cost batteries that will propel the energy revolution and enable the holy grail of EV ‘range euphoria.’”
24M received its competitive award from ARPA-E’s Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion Conducting Solids (IONICS) program. The program seeks to advance storage technologies by focusing on the parts of the electrochemical cell that conduct ions and concentrates on solid materials because of the potential for greatly enhanced performance and stability.
