The Coretec Group Inc., developers of a silicon anode for lithium-ion batteries, engineered silicon, and 3-D volumetric displays headquartered in Ann Arbor, provided details on its battery development program and revealed its new brand name — Endurion — during its first-quarter shareholder call.
“Our battery development program, Endurion, is up, running, and off to a great start,” says Mathhew Kappers, CEO of The Coretec Group. “We expect the silicon anode we’re developing to enable faster charging, improved cycling, and increased energy density in lithium-ion batteries. These are the industry objectives that our team of engineered-silicon experts is working to solve.”
While the battery industry acknowledges silicon as the next frontier in increasing battery life and utility, significant challenges remain. To date, battery developers have experienced expansion and contraction problems with silicon anodes as lithium-ions are absorbed and discharged. During this process, larger silicon particles break down, immediately reducing the charging capacity of the anodes.
“Our Endurion battery development program is using silicon-based nanoparticles to mitigate the swelling and pulverization issues that were common in early iterations of silicon anodes in the industry,” says Kappers.
“Additionally, our nanoparticles allow lithium-ions to travel faster to the necessary silicon atoms. This leads to faster charging times, an industrywide goal. We are also manipulating the chemistry of our nanoparticles to reduce silicon breakdown and enable a better cycle life, another industry goal.”
In a recent video presentation — available here — Michelle Tokarz, vice president of partnerships and innovation at The Coretec Group explains the company’s silicon anode approach to battery development.
On its quarterly call, the company shared that it aims to have a full working battery cell that improves battery cycling and charging. The improvements could be applicable in a variety of industries, including electric vehicles, military technologies, and mobile electronics.
The newly minted name for the ongoing battery program, Endurion, combines the words endurance and ion. The company says the blue-and-green logo symbolizes the battery program’s electric and sustainable nature.
“We are energized by our work in the Endurion battery program,” says Kappers. “By applying our deep knowledge and intellectual property holdings in engineered silicon to silicon anodes for lithium-ion batteries, we believe we can enable batteries with greater energy density, faster charging, and longer service lives.”
During the call, The Coretec Group also shared its progress on synthesizing CHS in its in-house wet laboratory, preparing for increased domestic CHS production, and progress on its acquisition efforts.
A full transcript of the first-quarter investor call is available here.
