German battery company “theion” has opened a technology center in the Berlin Adlershof Science and Technology Park. The facility will be used to further develop the companyʼs sulfur crystal batteries. The new center includes a synthesis laboratory, a glovebox laboratory and a cyclization laboratory. A one-megawatt-hour semi-automated cell assembly line for the production of customer samples is also part of the center.
99% cheaper raw material
Sulfur is available in large quantities as a by-product of industrial processes. According to “theion”, this makes the raw material 99% cheaper than the cathode materials used in today’s lithium-ion batteries. In addition, the battery cells are said to require significantly less energy to produce, from the raw material to the finished cell. The companyʼs patented sulfur crystal battery chemistry aims to triple energy density at one-third the cell cost and one-third the carbon footprint of todayʼs battery technologies. Recently, “theion” claims to have made a breakthrough with its lithium metal anode chemistry. In tests conducted by an independent research institute in Germany, the technology achieved 2,000 charge and discharge cycles.
