Innovative Manufacturing Process Enabling California-based Cathode Actives with Breakthrough Leading Economics (IMPECCABLE)
Inexpensive, high quality batteries via better cathode active material production
Sylvatex, Inc.
Recipient
Alameda, CA
Recipient Location
7th
Senate District
18th
Assembly District
$290,677
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
In 2024 the R&D team continued to improve the quality of the cathode material by performing experiments focused on finding definition of operations windows to control the effect of temperatures, gas flows, raw materials impurities, particle size distribution, etc. on cathode electrochemical performance. The Engineering group just completed testing of milling and classification equipment at three vendors’ sites, with promising results. The three different sets/brands of equipment showed very good capabilities of delivering cathode material at different specifications by adjusting operating parameters, proving that the tools can deliver different particle size distribution curves according to customer requirements.
In 2025 we plan to move to a new facility to continue Pilot Plant Commissioning, Operation, and Process Demonstration, hire a Head of People to execute a Community Benefits plan and produce a Cathode Materials Characterization Report and Positive Electrode Performance Report.
The Issue
Demand for LIBs is rapidly increasing both within the US and abroad, and the cathode represents a substantial fraction of both the cost (>30% of battery pack cost) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (50%). Reducing both, as well as establishing US-based manufacturing for LIB materials, is critical to US green energy deployment and energy independence and being able to reach California’s executive order of all new vehicles sold by 2035 to be zero emission and to be 100% clean energy by 2045. One contributor to the high cost of the cathode is the requirement for a highly refined feedstock. These more expensive feedstocks are normally required for cathode active material production as co-precipitation requires metal sulfates for cathode production. In addition, high performance LIB cathodes often require the use of expensive and supply constrained minerals such as nickel and cobalt, which will continue to be in high demand as the need for energy storage increases, especially in the EV sector.
Project Innovation
This project will fund the build-out, operation, and validation of a CA-based, Megawatt-hour (MWh) scale production line of high-performance cathode active material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) suitable for use in electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESS). This material will be produced using Sylvatex’s proprietary process, which is cheaper and has lower environmental impact (with respect to water usage, waste production, and carbon intensity) than conventional cathode active material manufacturing while maintaining quality and performance.
Project Benefits
This Agreement will result in ratepayer benefits of greater reliability and lower costs in transportation in the state of California by supporting the growth of the EV sector with cheap, high-quality cathode active material for battery production. By lowering the cost of cathode active material production, this project will help lower the barrier to continued EV adoption and promote further developments in green technology while also being environmentally friendly itself.
Affordability
This Agreement will lead to technological advancement and breakthroughs to overcome barriers to the achievement of the State of California’s statutory energy goals by promoting the continued growth of the EV and energy storage sector, driving further advances in electrification.
Key Project Members
Virginia Klausmeier
Subrecipients
Our Next Energy (ONE)
Match Partners
Sylvatex, Inc.
