PolyPlus Wins Edison Award for Lithium Air and Water Batteries

When an innovative company wants to win an award, they look towards the Edison. The PolyPlus Battery Company won this prestigious honor with it’s Lithium-Air and Lithium-Water Batteries. The invention won the gold award in the power generation/utilization category.

Being recognized with an Edison Award provides companies with one of the highest stamps of approval and support in the invention industry. These awards honor excellence in creativity and product development as well as sustainability and human-centered design.

These environmentally friendly batteries enable a new group of environmentally-friendly power sources for land and sea. They are ultra-lightweight and made of water-stable lithium electrodes.

The company began in 1991 and is based out of Berkeley, Calif. It has become a leader in the development of these next generation lithium battery products. The company began through innovations made by two scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for an environmentally friendly and cost-effective lithium/organosulfur battery. Its lithium-sulfur battery is now a commercial product. They company currently is working to develop rechargeable and non-rechargeable Lithium-Air, Lithium-Seawater and Lithium-Sulfur batteries.

How it works

PolyPlus developed lithium electrodes that remain remarkably stable in a broad scope of electrolytes, including aqueous and nonaqueous solvents. PolyPlus seals the lithium metal core by using solid electrolyte membranes and a unique compliant seal. The solid electrolyte is conductive to lithium ions, and impervious to liquids and gases. Because of this, the core is electrochemically active, but chemically isolated from the external electrolyte. This isolation allows for the construction of these batteries with unprecedented energy density.

Lithium-Air and Lithium-Seawater batteries are built with non-toxic materials and purposely environmentally safe.

In a lithium-air battery oxygen is taken from the atmosphere, as needed for the cell reaction, resulting in a safe, high specific energy power source. The use of a solid electrolyte membrane in advanced lithium-air technology also eliminates self-discharge, allowing for extremely good shelf life and maintenance of high quality products.

In a lithium-seawater battery, a solid electrolyte membrane is used to prevent direct electron transfer from the negative electrode to species in the aqueous electrolyte, extending the voltage window.

Contact The Talley Group today to be part of the next generation of sustainable energy engineering.