OneD Battery Sciences and Koch Modular partner for the large-scale production of silicon-graphite anode materials
18 January 2024
OneD Battery Sciences, a developer of silicon anode technologies for EV batteries, and Koch Modular Process Systems will partner to enable large-scale production of silicon-graphite anode materials for the next generation of affordable electric vehicles (EV).
Leveraging Koch Modular’s proven silane gas manufacturing expertise, OneD’s SINANODE technology ( earlier post) efficiently converts silane into nano-silicon inside graphite anode materials already qualified by EV cell makers.
This partnership will scale up silane anode production by placing a modular silane plant adjacent to a SINANODE factory to process and add silicon inside EV-grade graphite powders from industrial suppliers. OneD and Koch Modular are currently designing the first integrated North American plant to produce 20,000 tons of silicon-graphite anode material per year, enough for the batteries of about 1,000,000 EVs annually.
OneD says that its SINANODE technology platform takes a fundamentally different approach to silicon anode manufacturing. The SINANODE platform is a highly scalable low-cost manufacturing process that grows nano-silicon directly in the pores of EV-grade graphite powders selected by each customer. This removes the need to manufacture a new expensive carbon substrate to host silicon.
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Instead of displacing EV-grade graphite producers, the SINANODE process increases the performance and value of the graphite powders already qualified by EV cell factories. The SINANODE manufacturing process results in lower cost, smaller EV batteries with longer range and lower carbon footprint.
Koch Modular’s silane manufacturing expertise addresses the industry’s need for proven, scalable, and economical silane production. These globally transportable modules allow for efficient shipping and assembly, supporting sustainable scaling of production capacity for OneD’s SINANODE plants worldwide. With more than 40 years of chemical plant expertise, Koch Modular has demonstrated proven success, notably with the delivery of a longstanding silane plant in Taiwan serving demanding semiconductor applications for more than a decade.
Koch Modular’s silane technology complements OneD’s SINANODE platform. The delivery of silane production modules along with the licensing of the SINANODE manufacturing process enable established industrial partners to scale up the production of cost-effective silicon anode materials at optimum locations for the EV battery supply chains.
—Jan-Marc Luchies, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer at OneD Battery Sciences
The use of silicon (“Si”) in the anode electrodes is broadly recognized to increase energy density of EV batteries, thus reducing weight and increasing EV range. However, silicon anode mass-adoption depends on finding ways to use silicon to reduce the cost of EV batteries. Many silicon technologies are too expensive and not scalable enough to support production of batteries for millions of affordable EVs.
The key silicon precursor, silane gas (SiH4), is produced mostly in China for making more than 93% of the global production of solar cells. Both silane and EV-grade graphite are now considered critical materials for the EV supply chains in the US and Europe.
OneD’s SINANODE pilot facility in Moses Lake, WA, will go online in early 2024 to support the EV battery qualification process for OEMs while the large-scale production plants are completed.
In September 2022, GM Ventures publicly announced an investment in OneD's Series C financing, along with Volta Energy, a venture capital firm with deep expertise in material sciences and battery technologies. In June 2023, GM and Volta increased their respective investments in OneD in a second Series C closing. GM also expanded its technical collaboration with OneD for prototyping SINANODE-enhanced cells.
Posted on 18 January 2024 in Batteries, Manufacturing, Market Background, Materials
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