Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd (TSX-V:GMG, OTC:GMGMF) (GMG) said the ongoing development of its Graphene Aluminium-Ion Battery technology (G+AI Battery) has resulted in a significant increase in battery performance.
Notably, the calculated energy density has increased by 93% to 290-310 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) and the power density has increased by 33% to around 9,350 watts per kilogram (W/kg) since the last update on June 22, 2021, the company said in an operational update.
"These results show the promise of GMG's Graphene Aluminium-Ion Battery in terms of performance on top of previously announced longevity and sustainability advantages,” GMG CEO Craig Nicol said in a statement.
“The outcome was the result of a large piece of work done by GMG's Battery Team to repeatably make successful batteries, improve almost all of the various components of the battery and the successful transfer of intellectual property from the UQ team," he added.
READ: Graphene Manufacturing Group closes THERMAL-XR acquisition; grants RSUs to certain company officers and directors
GMG said the latest performance data is based on specific coin cell design and testing results, which has been separately verified by the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland (UQ), its development partner, against other aluminium ion batteries and two commonly-used lithium-ion batteries worldwide.
The performance improvement is the result of increasing the two main parameters of the tests since the June 2021 announcement, the company said, noting these are a 61% increase in the battery's specific discharge capacity from 200 to 360 milliamp-hours per gram (mAh/gram) and a 17% increase in the nominal voltage from 1.7 to 2.0 volts (V).
The improvement is also due to GMG successfully transferring the intellectual property from UQ's laboratories to GMG's Battery Development Centre and Battery Team, which is the natural step towards commercial production, the company said.
GMG chair Guy Outen added: "I'm delighted with this battery performance update which reflects both the tremendous creativity and hard work of all involved as well as the possibilities of our G+Al Batteries, even at this early stage in their development. This is a significant step in the development of our G+AI batteries and we look forward to the next steps towards commercialisation."
GMG also assessed the battery performance with several different grades of GMG-produced graphene using standard industry tests and have demonstrated repeatable and reproducible performance.
GMG is confident that it may have found an economically-sustainable path to scale the graphene process. On this basis, the company will continue to work towards a final investment decision for first battery production.
GMG said a test carried out to compare its own graphene to graphene made by other companies had a more favourable specific discharge capacity, particularly a higher energy density performance.
"The company's confidence is growing in the GMG-developed scalable process to make graphene from natural gas to a definable and tuneable graphene type for the GMG G+AI Battery in a repeatable fashion. Further testing is planned in the near term to further validate this confidence," CEO Nicol said.
G+AI coin cell development
GMG will undertake further engineering and development activities to achieve a coin cell capacity for the desired product application(s) being targeted for initial customer sales.
If this is achieved and subject to regulatory approvals, the company's board will consider a final investment decision (FID) for an automated coin cell factory and any further graphene production capacity expansion required.
The FID will be based on, but not be limited to, binding customer sales contracts, the economic costs to build an automated coin cell factory and other operational-level production considerations. GMG is targeting an FID decision in 2023 and the latest production to commence in 2024.
As previously announced, the company has committed to invest A$1.5 million to relocate and expand its graphene production operations into an adjacent warehouse to its existing headquarters and Battery Development Centre totalling 3,500 square meters in Richlands, Queensland, Australia.
G+AI pouch cell development
The development of the pouch cell will follow a similar sequence to the development of the coin cell.
When completed, GMG will update the Technology and Product Road Map for the pouch cell and finalise the end application(s) for initial market/customer use, which will determine the targeted pouch cell capacity.
The company may make an FID on an integrated gas to graphene and automated pouch cell factory, likely at a new location, after finalising the target market, size and location of the plant and after various conditions are met. It hopes to make significant progress on the pouch cell in 2023.
GMG is a disruptive Australian-based clean-tech company that produces graphene and hydrogen by cracking methane (natural gas) instead of mining graphite. This proprietary process allows GMG to produce high quality, low cost, scalable, 'tuneable' and no/low contaminant graphene.
It is pursuing additional opportunities for GMG Graphene, including developing next-generation batteries, collaborating with world-leading universities in Australia, and investigating the opportunity to enhance the performance of lubricant oil and performance-enhanced HVAC-R coating system.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com