Battery company theion receives third-party validation for ultra-fast-charging and safe battery anode

Berlin-based battery company theion announces an innovation in battery technology with its anode chemistry.

One of the biggest challenges of batteries using lithium metal foils on the anode is the formation of dendrites during fast charging and discharging, ultimately creating a safety risk. In line with its research on lithium-sulfur batteries, theion has developed a lightweight polymer host with special coatings to replace state of the art anode chemistries such as graphite, silicon-rich graphite, or lithium metal foils, and successfully reached over 2,000 charging and discharging cycles. This has been validated by a leading independent research institute in Germany, where the anode proved to be stable cycling in a symmetrical cell.

© theion | https://www.theion.de/

Unlocking the challenge of a durable lightweight anode is one of the key enablers for lithium-sulfur batteries, offering triple the energy density of today’s conventional lithium-ion batteries, at just one third of the cost while requiring significantly less energy to produce.

“Our new anode design is an important milestone,” says Dr. Ulrich Ehmes, CEO of theion. “With our host anode chemistry optimized and tested over several thousand cycles, we have solved the dendrite and fast charging problem of lithium metal foils. This is a key component for our high-performance lithium-sulphur cell.”

© theion | https://www.theion.de/

“Our breakthrough in lightweight and fast-charging battery chemistry makes lithium-sulfur batteries ideal for electric powertrains in aviation, such as eVTOLs and traditional prop-driven aircraft,” says Marek Slavik, theion co-founder. “The fundamental difference between sulfur and existing LFP, NMC, or other transition metal-based cathodes is that sulfur, as a multistep redox conversion cathode, is able to realize 16 electrons compared to, as an example, an insertion type LFP cathode, which can realize just one electron. Ultimately, it’s the energy density of 16 versus one electron that will spin the wheels on your electric car or turn the fans or props on an electric aircraft.”

Theion is backed by Team Global – a holding group investing in frontier technology businesses. With a successful track record and significant investments in eVTOL companies, theion’s place in the portfolio is highly synergetic. In addition, theion has generated significant interest from leading players in the aviation industry to support them on their path to electric flight.