Li-Metal, maker of lithium metal anode and lithium metal production technologies for lithium batteries, said it successfully produced its first batch of ultra-thin lithium on metalised polymer anodes. It said this is a second-generation lithium metal anode technology.
It expects to reduce the need for copper in battery anodes. This should result in up to 25% lower costs and lighter weight batteries, and improved gravimetric and volumetric energy densities.
The company said this expands its ability to support current EV as well as prospective electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) and aviation customers.
Li-Metal’s CEO, Srini Godavarthy, said: “We believe we are one of the only next-generation anode technology developers to successfully produce these lithium metal anode products using PVD technology, which marks another key technological process breakthrough for our company.”
It said battery developers use lithium metal anodes with 6–10 microns of copper foils, on average. This results in energy densities of less than 400Wh/kg.
Next-generation battery developers, especially those targeting the eVTOL and electric aviation markets, are aiming higher. They are seeking to produce batteries with over 450Wh/kg and energy density of more than 1000Wh/kg.
Li-Metal said its second-generation anode products utilise metalised polymers with 0.5–1 microns of copper. This makes anodes lighter and is expected to enable battery developers achieve their battery performance targets.
