Enzinc opens US manufacturing center for battery anodes

Enzinc Inc., a specialist in zinc battery technology, has announced the opening of a manufacturing technology center in Oakland, California. The company makes a critical component for batteries that serve the mobility and stationary energy storage markets.

Enzinc said it is scaling up and automating production of its innovative zinc anodes at its new 10,000 square foot manufacturing facility. The company’s proprietary technology is enabling traditional lead-acid battery makers to offer nickel-zinc batteries that the company says are safe, sustainable, and substantially higher-powered nickel-zinc batteries.

The technology used by Enzinc was first developed at the US Naval Research Laboratory, which signed a commercial licensing agreement in 2017 with Enzinc to commercialize the 3D Zinc “sponge” anode technology in a nickel-zinc battery.

“Our success builds on foundational science from the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and is possible because of state and federal grants and support from our investors,” said Michael Burz, founder and CEO of Enzinc.

The zinc microsponge technology was recently named by NRL as one of the “25 Technologies for the Next 25 Years.” The NRL compares the zinc battery technology to lithium, saying the safety concerns over lithium-based batteries drove the NRL to develop high-performance, safe, and low-cost alternatives. It describes the zinc “sponge” anode as having interpenetrating networks of metallic scaffolding and voids that distribute electrochemical and chemical reactions into the sponge interior, eliminating the long-standing dendrite-formation problem of lithium-ion batteries and resulting in a robust, safe, and energy-dense battery.

Enzinc says batteries with its anodes deliver the power of lithium-ion devices at the cost of lead-acid products, without fire risks, HVAC requirement, or narrow operating-temperature ranges.

The company’s manufacturing center was made possible, in part, by a $1.8 million grant under state entity the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Electric Program Investment Charge research scheme, via its Bringing Rapid Innovation Development to Green Energy award.

“California’s innovation ecosystem supports entrepreneurs who are driving the clean energy transition,” said Jon Bonanno, founder of executive advisory Factor and a senior advisor to Enzinc. “Enzinc shows how we can develop and manufacture advanced battery technologies when insightful investors support companies that leverage grant programs such as the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E [Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy] program and the CEC’s Electric Program Investment Charge, and draw on California’s depth of engineering talent.”

From pv magazine USA.