High performance Li-ion battery solutions:
10x faster charging (0-90% in 10 min)
20% higher energy density (300 Wh/kg)
Low temperature charging (-10° to 20° C)

Arbor Batteries provides high-performance battery solutions that enable 10x faster charging (0-90% in 10 min), 20% higher energy density (projected 300 Wh/kg), and fast low-temperature charging/discharging (1C at -10°C), all while simultaneously improving battery safety and lifetime. In contrast to competing technologies that require a change in battery chemistry, our increased performance is enabled entirely by our patent-pending laser manufacturing process (TRL5) which is drop-in compatible with current Li-ion manufacturing lines and can therefore be rapidly and inexpensively scaled.

To achieve high energy densities, Li-ion batteries use thick electrodes, which hinder the ability to fast charge as a result of the difficulty in transporting Li into the depth of the electrode. This leads to a tradeoff between battery energy density and charge rate. Arbor Batteries’ laser manufacturing process overcomes this tradeoff, thereby enabling higher energy density and faster charging (Figure A). The laser manufacturing process adds 3D structuring to the electrode, enabling rapid transport deep into the electrode through laser-drilled channels. This largely decouples Li transport and the electrode thickness (Figure B). Our manufacturing process is easily added onto existing Li-ion roll-to-roll manufacturing, allowing for rapid scale-up and allows us to leverage the billion-dollar investments in “giga-factories” across the USA.

This technology has been proven in multi-layer pouch cells of 2-20Ah tested at the University of Michigan and at Argon and Sandia national labs, where >85% capacity retention was observed after more than 600 10-min fast charge cycles, which exceeds both the United States Department of Energy and Advanced Battery Consortium goals for fast charging. Additionally, we have demonstrated 1C fast charging at -10°C. Fast charging data and further technical details are available in our journal publication titled “Efficient Fast-Charging of Lithium-Ion Batteries Enabled by Laser-Patterned Three-Dimensional Graphite Anode Architectures”