AquaLith has its eye on a billion-dollar market alternative: new sorts of battery cell parts that don’t depend on the scarce metals usually utilized in lithium-ion battery packs, that are more and more in demand with the rise of electrical autos.
Based on McKinsey & Firm, revenues alongside the lithium-ion battery worth chain will develop from $85 billion in 2022 to over $400 billion in 2030, with lively supplies and cell manufacturing probably having the most important income swimming pools.
With an unique license from the College of Maryland primarily based on the work of lithium-ion battery researchers Chunsheng Wang and Kang Xu, AquaLith is working to create, within the firm’s phrases, “denser, cheaper and safer” batteries by reworking their main parts: the damaging anode, the constructive cathode, and the electrolyte that transfers ions between the 2 electrodes.
Cathodes at present account for about 40% of the price of battery supplies. AquaLith, which is a part of TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield 200 this yr, replaces the necessity for nickel and cobalt in cathodes with uncooked supplies which might be a lot simpler to entry and course of whereas nonetheless offering excessive vitality density. This cobalt-free cathode know-how, which may scale back the price of the cathode by greater than 50%, might attraction to EV makers which might be susceptible to China’s management over battery element provide as geopolitical tensions intensify.
“We have now a excessive vitality density cathode that has a lot less complicated supplies that go into it, supplies which might be accessible anyplace on the earth,” defined Greg Cooper, founder and CEO at AquaLith.
“Cobalt isn’t extensively accessible world wide. The most effective cobalt mines are in Congo, so there’s a provide chain constraint there. A whole lot of Chinese language corporations management the cobalt mines, so there’s fear in some elements of the world about entry to these supplies. We have now a cathode that eliminates the necessity for these supplies, however nonetheless has very excessive vitality density,” he added.
Then there are anodes. As a substitute of the everyday materials of graphite, AquaLith makes anodes with silicon microparticles, which, in keeping with Cooper, can scale back the price of the anode by greater than 75% whereas bettering the vitality density by greater than 40%. Its rivals use some type of nanosilicon, which is considerably dearer.
Lastly, the corporate makes an attempt to make batteries safer by changing the natural solvent-based electrolyte with a water-based electrolyte, which is nonflammable.
“Once you begin to have a parking storage full of EVs or a bus depot or cargo ship full of electrical autos, then you need to fear rather a lot,” the founder stated.
Traditionally, a battery cell element maker like AquaLith could be promoting to battery makers, however the startup has plans to supply its merchandise to automakers throughout the subsequent yr as automakers have gotten battery makers themselves. The thought is to get into their improvement cycle early so the automobile producers can begin testing AquaLith’s supplies for integration into future merchandise.
“We are going to start with the automakers within the subsequent yr as a result of they decide the important thing necessities for acceptance into automotive. We can even be approaching different battery makers after initially participating with the automakers,” Cooper stated.
Wanting forward, AquaLith plans to boost $5 million in 2023 and increase its complete funding to $10 million subsequent yr and $20 million the yr after.
