IDEA #23RO79 GreSem Innovation, LLC, Kyiv,Ukraine

R & D Project ideas #1 Create and manufacture the Li-ion batteries electrodes based on Si to replace the graphite electrodes. - Specific capacitance of Si-based electrode is 30% higher in comparison with that of the graphite electrode. - Si-based electrodes are produced in the solvent-free processes making less negative environmental impact. #2 Apply the high-speed ion-plasma etching in place of liquid chemical etching in order to increase the coefficient of light absorption in silicon plates of solar cells. - Single process without preliminary or subsequent processing. - Plates processing is performed without water consumption and aggravating recirculation process. - Reduction of negative impact of plate processing on the environment. Instruments: - Plasma arc and helicon sources of plasma flows were developed and patented by us. The sources operate in a specific magnetic medium and are used to prepare the substrate and deposit one- or multi-layer thin (0.1+ um) films. The helicon source operates in the modes of deposition and ?nisotropic etching. - Consumables are conventional powder or metallurgical alloys and plasma-forming and reactive gases (Ar, N2, O2, H2, SiH4, SF6, etc.) - The films are deposited by the plasma flow from the consumable cathode of the plasma arc source in ?VD processes, and in the plasma flow from the helicon sourc? in PE CVD processes. - Anisotropic etching of silicon is carried out by an accelerated ion-plasma flow from a helicon source in the mode of ion-plasma etching (IPE). - The low production cost is due to the high efficiency of plasma sources: in order to obtain 100 cm2*10um film in laboratory equipment, it takes up to 5 minutes*5 kW power. Team Viktor Grebeniuk is the CEO & CFO. Valerii Semeniuk, Phys.D. is the CTO & Science Leader of the team, specialist in the field of plasma physics and plasma technologies, develops and improves plasma-technological equipment. He knows well the possibilities of plasma equipment and continues to open its new opportunities. Valerii Virko, Phys.D., is the Adviser in plasma physics, the specialist in measurement of plasma specifications. Georgii Veremeichenko, Ph.D., is the Patent Expert & Adviser, the specialist in the field of microelectronics and plasma technologies. Natalia Globa, Ph.D., is the Principle Specialist in electrochemistry. Volodymyr Khomenko, Ph.D., is the Advisor in electrochemistry Vyacheslav Chetveryk is the Marketing & PR Manager. Achievements Silicon based electrode - Technology is attractive for mass production, because it uses the environmentally friendly processing with high deposition rates. - Necessary electronic conductivity of the Si-based electrode is obtained. - Various current collectors and mediate layers were tested. - Manufactured samples are cycled for 300 ... 500 cycles in half-cells within the 40% utilization of silicon in the 40 … 50% DoD mode. - Manufactured samples are cycled for 100 ... 150 cycles in complete cells with 20 ... 40% depletion. Silicon wafer etching - Coefficient of light reflection in the visible wavelength range for standard plates of solar cell elements from mono and polycrystalline silicon is reduced by 5 ... 10% at an anisotropic etching rate of polycrystalline ilicon to 5 um/min. What are we planning to work on Silicon-based electrode - Adaptation of the electrolyte. - Active layer further improvement (e-, i+ conductivity). - Optimization of the deposition processes. - Increase the capacity of silicon composite active layer. - Optimization of compatibility of the active layer, current collector and electrolytes. - Testing protocols and BMS variations. - Pouch cell-level. Ion-plasma etching of a silicon wafer - Optimization of the helicon source specifications in the ion-plasma etching mode. - Optimization of the composition of operating plasma-forming and reactive gases mixture. How we will implement this We will - use a multi-chamber equipment and carry out technological processes in the specialized chambers; - apply more accurate automatic devices and controls to minimize the human factor and create a version of industrial equipment; - carry on vacuum deposition of solid-state electrolyte; - study more different samples to obtain statistically reliable results; - test samples in other laboratories under the same / different conditions; - use the best-available materials (substrates, powders, gases etc.) from top-suppliers; - attract additional staff to carry out more of our own research; - involve advisors from various institutions. What do we need - Equipment and components to build multi-chamber unit and conveyor-simulation. - Own testing equipment and supplies, increase the team of employees, funds to cover the costs for other companies participating in the tests if necessary. - Expansion of the research network for obtaining statistically reliable results and information exchange at conferences, seminars, etc. - Cooperation with companies working on the similar projects, where PVD tools are used. - Support for patenting. - The long-term investments for commercialization. Risks for a silicon-based electrode - We might never be able to get the electrode specifications. - Probably we move in the wrong direction or are moving forward too slow. - Non-reproducibility of the best sample of the experimental series in the industrial process. - We might suppose the wrong time we need or we have the wrong TRL. - Someone can achieve earlier the same result or better. - The specific unit price can be higher compared to market-present ones. What if we get where we want - We will put to the market the batteries with the higher or same capacity than known Li-ion ones, their production will be more effective, with less impact on environment. - We will replace polluting chemical etching with ecologically tolerant machines on solar energy. - Tools that we have will be used in various deposition applications effectively, such as DLC, corrosion-protective, decorative, passivating depositions. Competitors - General Motors Corp., USA: it is known only one R&D project using PVD process to make the silicon electrode. - Enevate Corp., USA: commercialized Si-dominant electrodes. Valuation - Valuation of the Gresem’s innovations by the SCORECARD method is around $10M ( as example, the Enevate Corp. was launched in 2006, was estimated for $10M in 2011, and $30M in 2015) (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/enevate#/entity) Funding - Down payment of $1M (closed). - Investment request of $2M for 20% stake: ? $2M are the direct R&D project investments; ? month run expenses are near $15k with increase to $30-40k. Roadmap for LIB Silicon anode Roadmap for Silicon wafer plasma etching Access to the market Silicon-based electrode Commercialization with the 100% technology transfer to the leading LIB producer ( ATL, BYD, Panasonic/Sanyo, LG, Samsung, Tesla, Nissan, GM etc. ). Approximate valuation of the company is $50-100M. Silicon wafer plasma etching Licensing is preferred because of the simple implementation of the technology. Also, the 100% technology transfer is possible for the leading producer of solar-cell /silicon wafer in China, USA. Approximate valuation of the company is $20-50M, if it will be launched without delay.