The production of graphene accumulator batteries is about to start
Nanotech Energy has announced that graphene-based battery cells will go into full production in early 2024 at its new 150 MW Chico 2 production facility.
Nanotech Energy successfully completed trial weeks at Chico 2 in November and December. Nearly all of the equipment is now installed at the Chico, California site, and final processes are being refined ahead of a launch that will eventually generate 30,000 18650 battery cells per day. These batteries, similar in size to AA batteries, however normally have a 3.7 volt output and are used in various electronic equipment.
Battery type 18650
Graphene is a particular, two-dimensional structure of carbon in which the atoms are arranged in a single, very thin layer, with particular qualities of physical resistance and conductivity. Graphene batteries are a type of battery that uses graphene as a component in the electrodes. Graphene material can improve the performance of traditional batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries, by increasing the battery's conductivity and enabling faster charging and discharging cycles. Graphene's high surface area can also increase the energy density of the battery, allowing for greater storage capacity in a smaller size.
Structure of graphene batteries
“Right now, our materials, quality, operations and program management teams are working together to ensure we are ready to operate and deliver production-ready cells in April 2024,” says Troy Zerbe, chief operating officer of Nanotech Energy.
Production will begin at 10 cells per minute and then ramp up to 20 cells per minute by the end of the year. By 2025, Chico 2 will also be able to produce 21,700 battery cells at the same rate of 30,000 per day.
Mr. Zerbe adds: “When we look at our key parameters such as capacitance, resistance and open circuit voltage (OCV), a major encouraging point is that our tests have already produced a high percentage of Grade A cells. Realistically, we are at the forefront and can feel the excitement growing throughout the organisation.'
Work on the 5,000-square-meter facility began in November 2022. In the fall of 2023, Nanotech Energy released the first images of the new setup taking shape.
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The article The production of graphene accumulator batteries is about to start comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/sta-per-partire-la-produzione-delle-batterie-accumulatori-al-grafene/ on Wed, 27 Dec 2023 20:05:17 +0000.