The Chemours Co. opened its Battery Innovation Center, a research and development facility located at its discovery hub in Newark, Delaware, on Aug. 13.
The “multi-million-dollar” center will support testing and scaling of next-generation lithium-ion battery technologies to make them more sustainable, energy-efficient and cost-effective for hybrid and electric vehicles, according to a press release.
The facility will also serve as a support lab, enabling the chemical maker’s engineers to collaborate with partners and customers to advance, pilot and adopt new ways to manufacture cost-effective lithium-ion batteries.
The Chemours Battery Innovation Center’s equipment and data analytics capabilities will be used to determine new and improved manufacturing processes.
“Electric vehicles are an essential part of the clean energy transition, and Chemours is dedicated to applying our advanced chemistry and material science knowledge to accelerate the electric future,” Gerardo Familiar, president of Advanced Performance Materials at Chemours, said in a statement.
For example, Chemours’ Teflon brand fluoropolymer binders are used and necessary to develop solvent-free battery electrode manufacturing, Familiar said. The binders, which are made with PFAS, help to make EVs more cost-effective and energy-efficient, Familiar added.
“Through the Chemours Battery Innovation Center, we can enable the adoption and scalability of this novel dry electrode coating technology to advance the capabilities of [lithium-ion batteries] and the electric vehicle industry,” Familiar said.
