Global battery giant runs ruler across Altech Silumina battery anode tech

Perth-based Altech Batteries is riding high on unsolicited but welcome industry buzz, with a leading global electric vehicle battery manufacturer kicking the tires on the company’s game-changing “Silumina” battery anode technology, culminating in Altech shipping samples straight to innovative labs in China for the ultimate stress test.

The approach from the battery heavyweight - described as one of the planet's biggest battery producers - came unexpectedly, zeroing in on Altech's proprietary alumina-coated silicon tech. 

After inking a mutual non-disclosure agreement, Altech's Chief Technical Officer Dr. Jingyuan Liu, whipped up batches of the spherical submicron silicon particles and dispatched them for rigorous evaluation. 

The new collaborative partner says it has never seen such stability from low-percentage silicon additions, which traditionally wreak havoc through swelling and rapid degradation during charge-discharge cycles.

“Lithiation”, the process where lithium ions intercalate into the anode during charging, typically triggers silicon's notorious 300% volume expansion, cracking electrodes and spawning unstable solid electrolyte interphases (SEI) that kill battery life. 

Altech's fix to the problem lies in the application of  a nanolayer of high-purity alumina coated irregular silicon powders, buffering the bloat. Precision thermal and mechanical spherisation then rounds them into perfect micro-orbs that slot into graphite's microscopic voids like puzzle pieces. 

Once blended into the graphitic matrix, the coated spherules are free to expand and contract across repeated electrical and thermal cycles, greatly reducing mechanical stress on battery components, preserving electrode integrity and improving electrical connectivity, all with just a 5% Silumina anode blend that has led to capacity gains of more than 40%.

Hot on the heels of the collaboration, Altech has also dropped fresh long-cycle data showing a capacity retention of 83% after a gruelling 1000 charge-discharge cycles, effectively eclipsing previous benchmarks and cementing Silumina's edge in the silicon-graphite race. 

Altech Batteries managing director Iggy Tan said: “This engagement from the world’s largest battery manufacturer is a powerful validation of our Silumina Anodes technology. Their early feedback, particularly noting they have not seen silicon additions perform this effectively at such low levels, reinforces the significance of our breakthrough. We are excited to advance this collaboration under the NDA and look forward to demonstrating how Altech’s coating technology can further enhance their graphite and anode performance.”

Altech's potential new partner has shipped some of its own graphite to Altech's Perth lab for direct alumina coating trials to establish benchmarks on how the technology might supercharge its own in-house battery blends.

While the company’s Silumina anodes target the high-stakes EV market, providing for denser, longer-range power-packs, its sibling, “CERENERGY” technology batteries, play in a different field entirely. 

In joint venture with Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS which conducts applied research on high-performance ceramics, Altech’s CERENERGY deploys sodium-nickel-chloride solid-state chemistry in large-format, fireproof battery packs for grid storage and renewables. 

The CERENERGY batteries do not use lithium, just basic household-type sodium chloride or table salt, nickel and a beta-alumina electrolyte.

Operating at about 270°C, the battery shuttles sodium ions through solid ceramic for safe, long-life (more than 15+ years) and they even endure and cycle repeatedly in climatic extremes, from desert power grids or Arctic renewables. 

There are no self-immolating alkali metal flammables like lithium or sodium metals either. It is all just perfectly stable salt derivatives, which slashes costs by about 40% when gauged against lithium-ion batteries, all while dodging ethical mining woes and a range of other incendiary and toxic risks in the traffic stream that keep Hazmat teams on their toes.

From laboratory whispers to Shanghai test benches, Altech's dual playbook with EV anodes today and grid power sentinels tomorrow has established the company as a Western wildcard in the battery wars. 

As coated graphites ship back and cycle counts climb, Altech’s Silumina isn't just testing limits, it appears to be rewriting them.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au