NAWA Technologies Introduces a Nano-Based Electrode Solution

The French manufacturer, NAWA Technologies was founded in 2013 with a vision to design highly-efficient devices that could strengthen energy mobility for ultracapacitors and batteries. 

 

The patented VACNT design is 1000x more conductive and is able to seamlessly travel to any current collector with no resistance. Image use courtesy of NAWA Technology.

 

NAWA recently announced an electrode that has high electrical and ionic conduction and is able to charge and discharge faster than industry-standard lithium batteries. The nano-based solution can be integrated into existing battery chemistries and NAWA claims it will increase performance in the automotive industry. 

For lithium batteries, electrically charged particles will need to travel through a bulk of activated carbon which leads to an increase in internal resistance due to the lack of mobility. NAWA’s nanosized vertically aligned carbon has straight channels that reduce the distance charged particles need to travel with good mobility. As ions are absorbed into the carbon structure electrons begin to flow to the load.  

 

Within batteries, electrodes account for 25% of production costs, reducing design complexity in electrodes will allow for manufacturers to meet production demands at a fraction of costs. Image used courtesy of NAWA Technology.

 

NAWA Technologies’ Founder, Chairman of the board, CTO, and COO, Pascal Boulanger discussed the impact of NAWA’s patented design would have on the battery industry, “Since the beginning of the battery industry, most performance increases have come from materials but it has reached a plateau today. Combine abundant carbon with nanoscale electrode architecture advances and you have a game-changer.” 

What makes the electrode faster than what is out in the market is its nanotube design. Particles are easily able to flow from negative to positive channels of the electrode without any resistance to deliver charge to the collector.

 

Ultra Fast Electrode’s Impact on EVs

For the automotive industry, electric vehicles (EVs) have many strengths for decreasing CO2 emissions around the world, however, the cost of EVs is what makes the demand diminish.

A way that manufacturers are aiming to reduce the cost of EVs is by redefining material used, eliminating components, and making the battery storage elegantly simple. The battery can become lighter when moving away from lithium-based designs and for on-board battery systems, integrating NAWA’s electrode solution shall increase power dissipation, energy storage, and battery’s life cycle. 

Automotive design engineers could easily take lithium-ion batteries and add NAWA’s ultra-fast carbon electrode to double stored kWh, drawing more power to go longer distances. This power burst will improve battery performance with the increased energy and power density from avoiding conventional lithium batteries.  

CEO of NAWA Technologies, Ulrik Grape shared his thoughts on the importance of NAWA’s R&D for the automotive industry, “Our technology can help to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of battery systems, so much so that we believe this electrode innovation could halve the time in which an electric vehicle pays back the CO2 created in its manufacture – as well as being able to recharge in the same time it takes to refuel, and drive the same distance on electricity as a tank of gas.” 

 

When utilizing NAWA’s electrode design, EV charging stations can alter charging time from hours to minutes for full charge. Image used courtesy of NAWA Technology. 

 

NAWA’s electrode also works with existing battery chemistries, by having VACNT themselves serve as a framework on which lithium insertion material can be coated. At this moment, NAWA Technologies can assist manufacturers with incorporating its universal system into existing electrodes in a 12 month time frame. For the ultra-fast electrode patented solution, we can expect NAWA to release them along with its ultra capacitors by early 2023.