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- Battery startup Safe-Li passes tests, getting ready for samples after winning Shell Energy GameChanger grant
Battery startup Safe-Li passes tests, getting ready for samples after winning Shell Energy GameChanger grant
Battery startup Safe-Li is hitting the next stage of production, they plan to produce a 1 Ah pre-Abattery sample sometime this quarter.
Safe-Li’s multi-layer pouch cells are based on chemistry that includes an electrode-supported zeolite membrane separator that is structurally strong and highly wettable. The electrode is non-flammable, and its high wettability further enables the use of potential fire-safe electrolytes while maintaining battery performance under enhanced thermal conditions.
In a limited sample size safety test, Safe-Li outperformed the polymer membrane benchmark battery in both nail puncture and external heat testing. The Safe-Li battery continued to operate at full capacity during the entire nail puncture test, while the benchmark battery failed. In the external heat test, Safe-Li continued to operate 40% longer than the benchmark battery design.
The Safe-Li technology features patent-pending inorganic ceramic separators made from a custom-formulated zeolite material for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) with improved safety, and a set of inorganic separators with a tailor-designed intra- and inter-particle pore structure for lithium-metal batteries (LMB) with higher energy density.
The company has completed the first phase of a research and development project funded by a grant from Shell GameChanger in 2022. The project’s initial phase involved surpassing safety and performance benchmarks, leading to Shell’s approval for Safe-Li to proceed to the project’s final phase, which will scale the design to a pre-A battery sample.