SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ionic Mineral Technologies (Ionic MT), an American advanced battery materials company, today announced it has provided an in-depth response to the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Request for Information on the Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Research, Development, Demonstration, and Commercialization Application Program” (DE-FOA-0002794). In its response, Ionic MT strongly recommended the Department further invest in research and development to enable rapid commercialization of halloysite-derived nano-silicon, which enhances lithium electric vehicle (EV) batteries to charge eight times faster than current EV batteries and have up to 10 times the capacity of existing EV batteries.
Further, unlike most critical minerals utilized in the EV supply chain, halloysite is plentiful here in the United States.
“Critical minerals are our economy’s Achilles heel,” said Andre Zeitoun, Founder and CEO of Ionic MT. “They are an essential input in everything from batteries to communication equipment, yet increasingly adversarial foreign powers control the global supply. Domestically produced Halloysite-derived nano-silicon will not only protect America’s economy by fulfilling a critical mineral supply; it will also allow America to leapfrog its competitors in advanced battery development, create new jobs for hard working Americans and accelerate our country’s commitment to deploy innovative solutions to tackle the climate crisis. We feel that IonicMT is a perfect example of what the IRA was intended to catalyze. Using U.S. process innovation coupled with unconventional natural resources, we have the ability to engineer next generation battery materials that will help secure our energy independence. It was our duty to provide our expertise and perspective to the U.S. Department of Energy.”
A game-changer for the industry, Halloysite nano-silicon can replace graphite (or work in tandem with it), generating far greater performance by reducing the swelling, cracking and deterioration of traditional batteries. Halloysite-derived nano-silicon is also already commercially viable, and the nano-silicon feedstock material derived from halloysite is a small fraction of the cost of the traditional silane gas-derived nano-silicon feedstock material. Finally, halloysite is plentiful in the United States, with millions of tons available (and growing) at the Ionic MT site. Ionic has commissioned their nano-silicon pilot plant facility to produce Halloysite derived nano-silicon today and has large-scale production in construction, slated for 2nd half 2023.
''Halloysite-derived nano-silicon represents a step change in capacity and fast charging capabilities for lithium-ion batteries.' Said Dr. Jake Entwistle, director of battery materials at Ionic. 'To meet the growing demand for electric vehicles over the coming decade innovation and new mineral reserves must be brought online, Ionic embodies this. Not only that, our mining operation and novel chemical process is non-intensive and produces critical mineral byproducts to give a next generation battery material in a green manner.”
About Ionic Mineral Technologies
Ionic Mineral Technologies (Ionic MT), a U.S.-based advanced battery materials leader, is paving the way to an electrified future. The company’s vertically integrated operation produces drop-in nano-silicon (IonisilTM) to boost power capacity and charging speed for lithium-ion batteries. The company is on track to be one of the nation’s highest-volume producers of this critical battery material and help meet demand across the electric vehicle, stationary storage, and other decarbonizing markets. Learn more at www.ionicmt.com.
