Canadian industrial technologies developer HPQ Silicon has announced its strategic partner, French technology company Novacium, will work together with a French subsidiary of Japan's Tokai Carbon Group, Tokai Cobex Savoie, to develop an integrated anode material solution for lithium-ion batteries.

Novacium has expertise in silicon-based, high-capacity anode materials while Tokai Cobex produces low-carbon synthetic graphite for batteries in Europe.

The research and development teams of both companies will evaluate the compatibility and performance of their respective materials to develop an integrated anode material solution designed and potentially produced in France.

The combination of the companies' capabilities could bring together, within a single composite anode material, the high specific capacity of silicon with the stability and conductivity of graphite.

Graphite remains the dominant material used in lithium-ion anodes, but its theoretical specific capacity of about 372 mAh/g limits achievable energy gains. Silicon changes the scale: its theoretical capacity reaches about 4 200 mAh/g, which is more than ten times that of graphite, making it a major lever for significantly increasing cell energy density.

Silicon, however, presents a significant challenge in that its volume can increase by more than 300% during lithiation. Controlling this expansion requires advanced material engineering.

The published and validated performance of Novacium’s GEN3 and GEN4 anode materials shows that the company has developed a commercially relevant solution to address this challenge.

The joint evaluation therefore aims to determine whether the two technology components can form a complete, high-performance, durable and low-carbon anode solution capable of helping reduce Europe’s dependence on external materials and supply chains.

The proximity of the teams, with Novacium in Solaize and Tokai Cobex’s research and development centre in Vénissieux, should facilitate exchanges, shorten testing cycles and accelerate technical iterations.

If the results are conclusive, this work could represent a step toward a more integrated, resilient and sovereign French supply chain for high-capacity lithium-ion battery anode materials.

“The objective is to verify that our silicon-based anode material can be effectively combined with French battery-grade synthetic graphite. Bringing these two complementary building blocks together in France would pave the way for a sovereign anode solution that is higher-performing, lower-carbon and more effectively controlled from an industrial standpoint," says Novacium COO Jed Kraiem.

“This collaboration illustrates Novacium’s strategic positioning. As graphite-based anode materials approach their theoretical capacity limits, integrating silicon-based materials represents one of the most promising avenues for enabling graphite manufacturers to offer higher-performance anode materials," adds HPQ Silicon president and CEO Bernard Tourillon.