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Our patented Cobalt-Free Nickel Manganese Aluminum (NMA) cathode is compatible to industry leading NMC811 and NCA cathodes with up to 20% higher Energy Density due to higher Nickel content (over 90%).
The emergence and dominance of lithium-ion batteries are due to their higher energy density compared to other rechargeable battery systems, enabled by the design and development of high-energy density electrode materials.
Basic science research, involving solid-state chemistry and physics, has been at the center of this endeavor, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. The award of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to the development of lithium-ion batteries motivated young scientists and engineers to continue innovation and development of new chemistries and materials.
TexPower was created with science in first place, complemented with enthusiasm and energy of its team. I clearly see the day when TexPower materials are used in all electric vehicles created in North America and beyond.
TexPower introduces a patented new high-performance Lithium-Ion Battery technology created by the University of Texas at Austin (UTA) battery lab, founded by two pioneers credited with inventing the Li-ion battery. Over a two-decade period, the lab at the UTA , founded by Prof. John B. Goodenough and Prof. Arumugam Manthiram have produced, or been part of the invention of almost every major advance in modern batteries.
In 2019, after Prof. Manthiram gave the acceptance speech for Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded to Prof. John B Goodenough for the work that led to the invention of the LIB, Prof. Manthiram and his two most brilliant scientists reinvented the fundamental chemistry of the positively charged Cathode.
Almost everything in battery design comes down to the materials of which the cathode, anode and electrolyte are made. They determine how many ions the LIB can store and how fast it can pump them out, by Cathode alone playing the major role.
Originally J. Goodenough, working alongside his doctorate student A. Manthiram used cobalt in the formation of the cathode. Cobalt stabilized the battery chemistry, but over time has proven to be the limitation in the worldwide expansion and proliferation of a battery based world.
The main target for the next decade of high energy density LIB evolution is the elimination of Cobalt, a limited, expensive resource produced by environmentally damaging and controversial mining.
TexPower holds the exclusive patent to the technology that removes Cobalt from Nickel based High Energy Density LIB. This patented technology of Nickel Manganese Aluminum (NMA) cathode replaces Cobalt with additional Nickel in a way that dramatically improves battery performance, with higher energy density and lower cost of materials. TexPower cathode technology can substitute commercial NMC/NCA cathodes in existing and future batteries “Powder-for-Powder.”
This new and patented NMA cathode with Ni content ranging from 90% to 99%, provides up to 20% higher energy density vs. other Ni based cathodes.
Removing Cobalt makes it also up to 10% cheaper than commercially available NMC/NCA cathodes.
TexPower was formed by the inventors at UTA to bring this revolutionary technology to the market.
State-of-the-art high-energy battery cathodes use significant amounts of cobalt, a vital component only found a few places on Earth. Cobalt concentration in the DR Congo results in a centralized supply chain that facilitates monopolization. Additionally, significant social and environmental costs have supported this vulnerable supply chain that may not sustain the soaring demand from the massive electric vehicle market in the coming decade.
According to data from the US Geological Survey, around 150,000 metric tonnes of cobalt were produced worldwide during 2020 – more than 70% of which came from a single country.
Due to limited production and increasing demand, cobalt prices are volatile and sensitive to EV demand. Despite the efforts to reduce the % of cobalt in batteries, the metal remains critical for chemical and physical stability of traditional NMC and NCA cathodes.
At the time of the launch of the Tesla Roadster in 2008, the total global LIB manufacturing capacity was approximately 20 GWh per year. Today it is over 100 GWh per year. By 2030, we expect over 2,000 GWh of annual production capacity based on already announced plans by cell manufacturers.
In order to electrify the world’s transportation and transform energy storage to displace fossil fuels, the world will need 30,000 GWh annual capacity by 2050.
It will require production of 20 million tons per annum (mtpa) of graphite anode or 5 mtpa of silicone anode. These resources are abundant.
Assuming latest generation NCA/NMC cathodes with 80% Ni and 10% Co, the world will need to produce 2.5 mtpa of Co.
Current Global production of Co is 0.15 mtpa / Total high-grade reserves are 1.5 million tons.
Wangda Li is the CTO and Co-Founder of TexPower. Wangda earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin for his original work on TexPower’s cobalt-free lithium battery technology.
Under the guidance of lithium-ion battery pioneers Profs. Arumugam Manthiram and John B. Goodenough, Wangda developed a deep insight of the composition-structure-morphology-property relationship of energy storage materials. He has co-authored 2 patents, 28 academic publications, and several federal and industry grants and contracts.
Alexey Domakhin joined TexPower in 2021 to accelerate business development and improve day-to-day operations, as well as to manage construction of Cathode Pilot Facility in Houston, TX, capable of producing 100+ tons per year.
Alexey holds an MBA from Ross School of Business at University of Michigan. He previously worked in Operations and Investment positions in energy, metals and mining companies, as well as technology and alternative energy startups in the US and overseas.
