Ampcera Inc., an innovator in solid electrolyte technologies, today announced a low-cost flexible solid electrolyte (SE) membrane technology for solid-state batteries (SSBs). This new technology marks another leap forward in the commercialization of next-generation SSBs. Unlike conventional lithium ion batteries (LIBs) that include a flammable liquid or gel polymer electrolyte, SSBs use a safe SE and promise to double the driving range of electric vehicles when loaded with the same weight of batteries.

Performance and cost are the bottlenecks in the commercialization of SE technology and SSBs. To address them, Ampcera has been developing a scalable SE technology, and has filed multiple U.S. patent applications and an international PCT patent application on its flexible SE membranes, a low-cost manufacturing method, and the corresponding SSBs. Some key features and benefits of this new technology are highlighted below.

High-performance SE membranes, having a thickness down to 25 microns, room temperature lithium ionic conductivity >1 mS/cm, and stable against a lithium metal anode, would enable solid-state lithium metal batteries with an energy density of 500 watt-hours per kilogram.

The vertically integrated manufacturing from materials synthesis to battery cell assembly has significant cost advantages over competing technologies for SSBs, offering a solution to reduce the cost of SSBs to below $100 per kilowatt hour, which is considered a cost target for electric cars to be competitive economically with gasoline cars.

“We are now expanding our team to scale up this technology and further integrate it in solid-state lithium battery cells,” said Dr. Hui Du, co-founder and CTO of Ampcera. “With increasing profits from sales and additional support from our investors and the U.S. DOE SBIR program, Ampcera is committed to accelerating the commercial success of this technology in the coming years.”