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TNO spinoff Lionvolt has raised 1.1 million euros to accelerate development of a 3D solid-state thin-film lithium-ion battery. The device consists of a foil, covered with billions and billions of micropillars, each coated with thin layers of battery materials: lithium-storing electrodes sandwiching an electrolyte. Advantages of this design include higher energy density, faster (de)charging, longer lifespan and an increased safety profile compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries.
Lionvolt was launched last spring after scientists and engineers at TNO Holst Centre, after five years of R&D, had demonstrated a proof of concept. “The battery industry will multiply fivefold to a 137+ billion dollar industry by 2025. This is mainly driven by applications such as electric vehicles. With our novel 3D batteries we offer higher performance, in safer batteries at competitive costs. In terms of energy density alone, LionVolt will ensure batteries that are at least 3 times better than what is available today,” Lionvolt CTO the Sandeep Unnikrishnan said at the time.
The new venture is backed by local investors Innovation Industries, Groeie Grutten, Brabant Startup Fund (BSF) and the Brabantse Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij (BOM). Lionvolt expects it will be able to source 80 percent of its manufacturing needs from the Brainport Eindhoven region.
