Solid Power and Oak Ridge National Lab sign licensing agreement for enhanced battery development

Tuesday November 24, 2015 Tags: Louisville, Solid Power, Oak Ridge National L, Douglas Campbell, lithium-sulfur

LOUISVILLE --  Solid Power Inc.  and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announced they have signed an exclusive agreement licensing lithium-sulfur materials for next-generation batteries.

Solid Power said it licensed a portfolio of ORNL patents relating to lithium-sulfur compositions that will enable development of more energy-dense batteries.

ORNL’s proof-of-concept battery research has demonstrated the technology’s potential to improve battery power, operating temperature, manufacturability and cost, Solid Power said.

“We’re thrilled to add the technology developed at ORNL to Solid Power’s portfolio of novel materials and processes built around manufacturing a better battery,” said Douglas Campbell, Solid Power’s president and CEO.

“The intellectual property ORNL has perfected better positions Solid Power to successfully achieve its mission.”

That mission is to develop next-generation energy storage devices for the rechargeable battery market now dominated by lithium-ion technologies. The current $12 billion rechargeable battery market is anticipated to grow to $20 billion by 2020, the company said.

Solid Power said ORNL’s technology will help it develop solid-state rechargeable batteries than can provide two to three times the energy of conventional lithium-ion technologies.

Solid Power recently constructed a 700-square-foot dry room facility with roll-to-roll processing capabilities that will translate to production scale, allowing the first large-scale prototypes to begin production by the end of 2015 and continue into 2016.