An Imperial College London spinout developing solvent-free battery electrode manufacturing technology has won the Armourers & Brasiers’ Venture Prize, securing £25,000 to help demonstrate the commercial scalability of its process.
Advanced B-Solv Technology (B-Solv), founded by Imperial battery materials specialist Dr Chun Ann Huang, is developing a dry electrode coating process intended to reduce the cost, energy consumption and environmental impact of battery production by eliminating the toxic solvents and energy-intensive drying ovens used in conventional manufacturing.
The company said its patented technology compresses powder materials directly into battery electrodes without the use of solvents, simplifying production while improving battery performance and manufacturability.
Associate professor in energy storage materials at Imperial
“Our technology addresses a key challenge in battery manufacturing,” said Dr Chun Ann Huang, founder and director of Advanced B-Solv and associate professor in energy storage materials at Imperial College London.
“Dry electrode coating has attracted a lot of attention because of its potential to cut costs and emissions. However, maintaining electrode integrity and consistency has prevented widespread adoption. Our innovation aims to overcome these barriers with equipment that can easily drop into existing factory production.”
Dry electrode processing has emerged as a major area of interest across the battery sector because of its potential to lower manufacturing costs and reduce the environmental footprint of cell production. However, maintaining electrode quality and consistency has proved challenging, limiting wider industrial adoption.
B-Solv said its technology is designed to address these issues while remaining compatible with existing factory infrastructure.
The award was presented by the Armourers & Brasiers’ Company, which supports materials science research and commercialisation in the UK.
“B-Solv is an excellent example of how UK scientific innovation can drive cost savings and environmental gains in battery manufacturing,” said Julian Beare, chairman of the Armourers & Brasiers’ Venture Prize judging panel.
“Our mission is to foster scientific entrepreneurship and help promising ventures achieve real-world impact.”
The £25,000 prize will be used to support demonstrations of the technology to prospective customers and partners.
B-Solv is aligned with the Faraday Institution’s Nextrode (Next Generation Electrodes) programme and its LEAP (Lithium-ion: Enhancing and Accelerating Performance) programme, and the company said it benefits from the organisation’s industrial network and commercialisation expertise.
Dr Huang has more than 16 years’ experience in battery research. She earned a BEng in materials science and engineering from Imperial College London and a PhD in materials science from the University of Oxford.
The founding team currently comprises technical specialists and a commercial lead in addition to Dr Huang.
Photo: Dr Chun Ann Huang in the laboratory
Credit: Advanced B-Solv
