X-MAT refines battery anode technology

X-MAT recently announced a collaboration with the Battery Innovation Center, to determine further improvements of X-MAT's electrode fabrication technology, which dramatically increases the storage capacity of graphite recovered from recycled batteries

With lithium-ion battery markets projected to increase by 25% annually, resulting in 14-fold growth by 2030, X-MAT has long prepared for the necessity of battery recycling and has sought to further refine its X-BATT technology.

The advanced materials division of Semplastics, Florida-based X-MAT is known for its work in refining carbon materials with support from the Department of Energy's National Technology Laboratory in developing a method of utilizing coal in batteries as well as other unique ways to recycle and reuse the ancient fuel.

This latest endeavor in working with the Battery Innovation Center, an Indiana-based company dedicated to advancing battery cell and pack technology, is endeavoring to improve upon the already impressive battery recycling technology created by X-MAT.

With roughly 95% of current batteries in the United States ending up in a landfill, never to be used again, X-MAT's battery research laboratory has developed the company's patented coating technology to nearly double the capacity of battery-grade graphite by coating the recycled graphite in a special formula.

Normal graphite has an upper capacity rating of about 360 milliampere hours per gram, and recycled graphite has roughly 270 mAh/g capacity. Initial testing shows that X-MAT's patented coating technology can increase the capacity of recycled graphite to 700 mAh/g.

"This is a category buster. We have found a way to turn scraps into gold by making them even more powerful than new graphite," said Semplastics and X-MAT CEO Bill Easter. "These stunning results open the door for environmentally-conscious companies to start manufacturing batteries with recycled graphite."

After developing its innovative electrode technology to serve as a solution for reusing recycled graphite from scrapped lithium-ion batteries, this collaboration hopes to further advance and validate the technology.

With proven lab results showing the X-MAT process can rejuvenate spent recycled graphite to higher energy performance than never-been-used graphite, the Battery Innovation Center offered several procedural adjustments that have improved both material coating and repeated usage performance.

The company is working to become the first manufacturer in North America capable of producing specialty coatings for battery-grade graphite anodes that can boost the performance of standard graphite anodes beyond their theoretical limit.

"We're looking forward to continuing to work with the BIC to advance and validate the X-MAT electrode technology," said Easter.