Washington start-up develops porous silicon battery for EVs and grid storage

XNRGI, a start-up in Washington, USA, has designed a "porous" silicon battery that has better energy density and lower manufacturing costs than traditional lithium-ion batteries, and is also safer to use. XNRGI makes its batteries using silicon wafers that are similar to those used by semiconductor companies to produce their chips. After etching a very dense, 20 by 20 micron honeycomb pattern into those wafers, they coat them with lithium and other metals to form the anodes and cathodes of so-called "micro-batteries". XNRGI's batteries are recyclable, and are not as susceptible to thermal runaway as traditional lithium-Ion batteries. Their energy density of over 400 Wh/kg makes them less expensive to make and thus an ideal candidate for EVs and grid-storage. That said, the company claims it can achieve the same $150/kWh regardless of the application or scale, which means these benefits are also available for all manner of consumer electronics such as wearables, smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

Source : https://bit.ly/2LyASRe