US battery startup Enovix has newly developed 100% active silicon anode cells for its new-generation 3D silicon lithium-ion batteries, significantly boosting the battery energy density up to 900Wh/l, a lead over that of traditional lithium battery by five years, according to the company's Asia Pacific sales VP Jay Wang.
At the moment, most lithium battery makers still use graphite as main anode material, which has an energy density of only 372mAh/g, far lower than the theoretical density of up to 4,200mAh/g for silicon material. Though they are trying hard to boost the content ratio for silicon material to improve energy density, the ratio is now still under 10%, compared to 100% at Enovix, Wang noted.
Wang stressed Enovix has successfully rolled out 100% silicon active anode cells by tackling all the barriers encountered by traditional lithium battery makers in incorporating silicon material, such as easy expansion and breakage of such material.
He said the company has also incorporated its unique BreakFlow technology, an intra-cell system that significantly increases tolerance against thermal runaway from internal shorts, without compromising high energy density.
Wang also noted that Enovix will mainly target consumer applications for its products, particularly wearable devices, before advancing to EV applications in 2025.
The annual battery market scale for mobile and computing devices is estimated at US$13 billion, including US$3.2 billion for wearable devices cells, Wang said, disclosing that Enovix has started volume shipments to vendors of wearable devices, and will set up a new plant in the US by the end of 2022 before moving to plan a new production base in Asia after 2023.
