A lot of toll processors and contract manufacturing factories have been looking at the multiple evolutions of battery technology with interest, as the ramping demand for capacity may directly affect them.
Along with new zinc and sodium-ion-based technologies that have been launched, another potential revolution comes in the form of silicon powder, which is an evolution of existing lithium-ion batteries that could potentially lead to ten-minute charges and ranges in the hundreds of miles.
The system, known as TitanSilicon, uses a silicon anode instead of a more traditional graphite one, and the benefits of such a change are exceptionally pronounced to the point that silicon-based lithium-ion batteries are decades in the making.
The big advantage is that the silicon anode powder can store far more energy than graphite anodes, boosting the energy density of the battery up to tenfold and creating significantly more power supply and thus range for electric vehicles.
The problem, and the reason why battery manufacturers haven’t leapt onto the technology before this, is that repeated charges cause silicon to swell, which creates microtears and cracks in the anode and causes considerable battery loss to be quite noticeable.
Instead, the TitanSilicon process uses a carbon “scaffolding” process to keep the nanocomposite silicon material in place and accommodate the expansion without causing any damage.
The ultimate goal would be to reduce the charging time to a time roughly equivalent to filling a petrol tank, and the estimated ten-minute charge time to 80 per cent is significant.
It also increases battery capacity in other ways, namely by being lighter and taking up far less space than graphite would, which currently makes up as much as 60 per cent of the weight of a battery by volume.
Silicone would take up less space and would also be a cheaper material to use, given that it is the second-most abundant element on Earth aside from oxygen.