3D nano-electrode tech at the advanced automotive battery conference

Based on NAWA’s patented vertically-aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) design, which is also the basis of its next-generation ultracapacitors, the company’s 3D nano-electrode combines high ionic conductivity – thanks to a 3D fully accessible nanostructure – with high electrical and thermal conductivity, provided by its arrangement of 100 billion nanotubes per sq cm, all vertically aligned.

Just a thin layer of VACNT (1% of the overall thickness of the electrode) has a huge impact on performance, greatly improving the link between a battery's active material and its copper current collector, with incredibly low equivalent serial resistance and high adhesion, enabling multiple performance benefits.

Overcoming the limitations of existing automotive battery electrodes, which are based on inefficient powders, and agnostic to any chemistry (from lithium to sodium and flow batteries) or electrolyte, NAWA’s new 3D nano-electrode can solve many of the performance constraints faced by global automotive battery makers, with significant benefits in terms of charging time and energy storage.

From its production line located in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, NAWA has demonstrated that VACNT can be grown simultaneously and homogeneously on both sides of a substrate at Atmospheric Pressure using a Chemical Vapor Deposition (APCVD) process, in a roll-to-roll manner. The process not only demonstrates the ability to grow double-sided VACNT from a few micrometres to over 200 micrometres simultaneously on a width of 90cm, but also to selectively grow VACNT, which is essential for electrode designs.

With the global lithium-ion battery market predicted to be worth more than $135 billion in 2031, NAWA believes that it has a technology that can be a critical component for the industry.

Pascal Boulanger, NAWA Founder and CTO said: “NAWA’s 3D nano-electrode brings a step change in design and performance thanks to VACNT technology, overcoming the limitations of existing, inefficient powder-based electrodes, bringing significant benefits in charging time and energy density. Agnostic to battery electrode chemistry and electrolyte, our 3D nano-electrode technology will allow electric vehicle batteries to charge faster, go further and for longer – and all with a product based on one of the world’s most abundant and green materials: carbon.”