24M and Partners Awarded $3.5 M from Arpa-e to Advance the Next Generation of Lithium-ion Batteries

24M today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded $3.5 million in funding to a team that includes 24M, Sepion Technologies, Berkeley Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University. The funds will be used to develop novel membranes and lithium-metal anodes for the next generation of high-energy-density, low-cost batteries.

24M’s core technology is semisolid lithium-ion, a new class of lithium-ion batteries that will be initially deployed in stationary storage. With this ARPA-E program, 24M and its partners will extend the capabilities of semisolid electrodes to ultra-high-energy density cells that use lithium-metal anodes. Lithium metal is recognized as an enabler of high-energy density in rechargeable batteries, but has heretofore not been sufficiently stable for aggressive long-life applications. 24M and its partners have identified a new approach to stabilizing the lithium-metal anode, which, when combined with the inherent cost advantages of semisolid lithium-ion technology, can realize the energy-density promise of lithium metal, safely and at low cost.

“As 24M nears commercial shipment of its first generation of energy storage products based on semisolid lithium-ion technology originally developed under ARPA-E support, we are excited to tackle a new grand challenge with partners Sepion Technologies, Berkeley Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University,” said Throop Wilder, CEO and Co-founder of 24M. “We look forward to bringing our team’s innovations to market in a new class of safe, ultra-high-energy density, ultra-low-cost batteries that will propel the energy revolution and enable the holy grail of EV ‘range euphoria.’”