Miracle battery from Berlin

Miracle battery from Berlin

The German sulfur battery startup theion wants to revolutionize mobile and stationary energy storage and has expanded its team to 19 experts from ten countries. As part of its expansion strategy, the startup also moved into a new 1,800 square meter building in Berlin's leading Adlershof science and technology park. On four floors near the campus of the Humboldt University in Berlin, the theion team will continue to advance the development of sulfur crystal batteries in the coming years.

“After successful tests with button cells, we produced the first single-layer pouch cells,” explains Ulrich Ehmes from theion, and continues: “The potential of our technology is enormous – either in combination with lithium for mobile applications or with sodium for stationary storage.” For mobile applications, theion combines a monolithic sulfur cathode with a modified lithium metal anode. To protect the cathode from polysulfide shuttles, the typical challenge with lithium-sulfur batteries, theion protects the polycrystalline sulfur in the cathode with a special, easy-to-apply coating that eliminates the insulating character of the sulfur. The next development steps are the transfer of process innovations from button cells to pouch cells and the construction of multi-layer pouch cells to increase the energy density of the battery.

For the first commercial cells, theion is aiming for a gravimetric energy density of 500 Wh/kg with a service life of 500 charging cycles. Based on current material prices, theion's new technology can significantly reduce costs, even for small production quantities. There is also the strategic advantage of complete self-sufficiency in supply and thus independence from cathode active material from Asia. Corresponding patents to protect the company's most important intellectual property have been granted in recent months. Further patents are in the registration process.