An organization spun out of the Dalhousie College lab of lithium ion battery pioneer Jeff Dahn a decade in the past, is doubling down on its battery supplies enterprise, as automakers and cell producers scour North America for native anode and cathode suppliers.   

Novonix Ltd., which was based in 2013 as a battery testing firm, introduced a joint growth settlement with battery cell maker LG Power Resolution (LGES) on June 6.

The deal focuses on the event of high-performance synthetic graphite anodes, and is geared towards positioning Novonix as a key provider to the cell maker’s rising roster of battery crops in america and Canada. It offers LGES the choice to buy as much as 50,000 tonnes of anode materials from Novonix over 10 years, following the completion of the collaborative growth work.

The anode accord with the big-name battery maker is simply the newest milestone in Novonix’s growth into battery supplies manufacturing, which comes as North American demand swells, stated firm CEO Chris Burns.

“The market wants these supplies yesterday,” he instructed Automotive Information Canada.

Graphite, a extremely conductive type of carbon made up of neatly layered sheets of atoms, is often used for the detrimental electrode, or anode, in lithium ion batteries. It’s naturally occurring, so may be mined, however greater efficiency anodes use synthetic, also referred to as artificial, graphite.

“Pure graphite begins as graphite, and it’s good to purify it. Artificial graphite begins as one thing else, [such as petroleum coke,] and you need to warmth it as much as convert it,” Burns stated.

FINE-TUNING DEVELOPMENT

Novonix has been fine-tuning its synthetic graphite anode manufacturing course of over the previous 5 years, and is scaling up output in america to fill the void in native suppliers. As with many different battery supplies in the present day, nearly all of the electrical automobile market’s graphite provide comes from China.

On the firm’s first business manufacturing web site in Chattanooga, Tenn., Novonix plans to be producing at the least 10,000 tonnes of anode materials per yr by the tip of 2024. It will match the necessities of one other of its prospects, Kore Energy, a battery startup constructing a cell plant in Arizona.

And as Novonix traces up different potential consumers, reminiscent of LGES, it’s working to construct a sequence of different anode crops so as to add capability in roughly 30,000-tonne “increments,” Burns stated.

“Our purpose is to be producing lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in income on an annual foundation from the anode supplies facet within the subsequent two to a few years,” Burns stated.

The corporate continues to be scouting areas for the primary of its 30,000-tonne crops, however it will likely be in america, and constructed with the help of a US $150 million grant awarded to the corporate by the U.S. Dept. of Power final fall. It’s scheduled to come back on-line in 2025.

Different crops are anticipated to comply with, which Burns stated may finally lead the corporate’s anode unit to Canada, the place entry to scrub, low-cost energy is a significant draw.

‘HUGE OPPORTUNITY’ FOR CANADA

“The massive quantities of assist from the U.S. federal authorities actually are driving funding there, however Canada has an enormous alternative to convey numerous that funding within the subsequent wave.”

It might be comparatively acquainted territory, as the opposite half of Novonix’s enterprise is already based mostly within the Halifax space.

In the present day, the corporate employs about 200, break up kind of evenly between Canada and america. Regardless of the singular deal with North America, nonetheless, Novonix is formally headquartered in Australia. The faraway base of operations is a holdover from the corporate’s 2017 merger with Brisbane-based junior miner Graphitecorp Ltd., a transaction Burns stated was geared toward elevating the capital wanted to push into the anode enterprise.

Whereas the corporate’s U.S. operations deal with synthetic graphite manufacturing, its Canadian unit stays primarily targeting battery testing gear, the phase that gave it its begin.

Primarily based off early analysis Burns performed alongside Jeff Dahn within the late 2000s, the corporate makes use of a system often known as ultra-high precision coulometry to place batteries by their paces. The testing course of lets Novonix exactly extrapolate how effectively batteries will maintain up over lots of or hundreds of cycles, and when they’ll fail.   

“We work throughout the whole sector and assist all the pieces from startup firms you’ve by no means heard of, to family names by our labs in Halifax,” Burns stated.

Significantly for electrical automobile batteries that may final for 10 years or extra, the testing course of is important, Burns stated, as cell makers want correct long-term efficiency information, however can’t wait a decade for real-world outcomes. Novonix’s testing gear compresses the method right down to a few month.

As its testing enterprise continues to develop, Novonix can also be funneling the income again into R&D, which has led to a potential foothold in a special phase of the battery supplies enterprise.

In Halifax in November, the corporate opened a 35,000-square-foot plant devoted to piloting a brand new kind of cathode materials manufacturing course of. It makes use of a dry, versus moist, processing technique, considerably slicing down on waste. The positioning can produce 10 tonnes of cathode materials per yr.

The brand new cathode manufacturing course of continues to be in need of commercial-readiness, but when confirmed out on the pilot-scale, will current one other progress space for the enterprise, much like the chance it’s at present exploiting on the anode facet, Burns stated.