The crystal battery is based on sulphur, replacing cathode materials with high processing cost and high metal content, like nickel and cobalt.
Crystal battery benefits
Sulphur is 99% cheaper to source and is used in existing state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries. According to Theion, their battery cells also require 90% less energy to produce, from raw material to finished cell.
“We are using mother nature’s crystals under the guidance of our patented processes to unlock sulphur’s full potential as energy carrier,” said Marek Slavik, Theion co-founder and CTO.
“Its wide abundance around the world is crucial to the material cost. The design of our (…) manufacturing processes makes our crystal batteries fully sustainable.”
Production & distribution
The production process extends the cycle life of batteries by combining sulphur’s crystal material properties with carbon nanotubes and a proprietary solid electrolyte.
Theion will be shipping material later this year, firstly to aerospace customers, as part of the qualification stage. Aerospace will be followed by aircraft, air taxis, drones, mobile phones and laptops, before servicing the electric flight and automotive sectors in 2024.
Theion’s new leadership
The announcement concerning the new battery comes as Theion reveals its new CEO, battery production veteran Dr Ulrich Ehmes.
Ehmes is a member of European and German battery associations and serves on the board of major battery research clusters funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education.
“I joined Theion because I am convinced that selecting the right battery active materials and processing these materials in a way that best leverages the material’s storage property, will disrupt the battery industry to another level,” Ehmes commented in a statement.
Ehmes, who has a long track record of industrialising battery production, will lead commercialisation of Theion’s lithium-sulphur cathode technology. This technology is reported to be targeting triple the range and usage time compared to conventional lithium-ion cells.
