South 8 Technologies demonstrates LMNO battery electrolyte

South 8 Technologies Inc (South 8), a San Diego-based developer of LiGas, a novel liquefied gas electrolyte used for advanced lithium-ion batteries announced that it has demonstrated high performance on cobalt-free, low nickel, and high-energy battery cells designed for next-generation electric vehicles (EV).

South 8 completed the latest demonstration by partnering with an automotive OEM for the project. South 8's work is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) through the EVs for American Low-carbon Living (EVs4ALL) program. The program's primary objective is to increase the domestic adoption of new and used EVs by enabling safe, resilient, fast-charging batteries with improved performance at low temperatures.

"LNMO is a future cathode material, promising the safety of LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) and energy of NMC (nickel manganese cobalt)," said Cyrus Rustomji, Chief Science Officer of South 8.

"The challenge has been the electrolyte: conventional solutions break down at LNMO's (lithium, nickel, manganese oxide) high voltage. LiGas does not. LiGas gives excellent low-temperature performance and greatly reduces thermal propagation. As we continue our collaboration with ARPA-E and our automotive partner we aim to meet additional program requirements including fast charge and longevity," Rustomji added.

In the first few months of the three-year collaboration, South 8 demonstrated exceptional performance on 18650 lithium-ion batteries. Specifically, LiGas electrolyte demonstrated full compatibility with a 4.6-volt commercial LNMO cathode, the company noted. Energy retention at -20°C (-4°F) was measured at 96%. This compares to less than 5% retention for standard liquid LNMO electrolytes at the same temperature. Further LiGas electrolyte testing demonstrated 87% energy retention at -40°C (-40°F).