Enovix Unveils BrakeFlow™ Technology For Lithium-Ion Battery Design
In March, Enovix which designs and manufactures 3D Silicon™ lithium-ion batteries, announced its latest development, BrakeFlow™ (BrakeFlow). The new BrakeFlow technology is an intra-cell system that increases tolerance against thermal runaway from internal shorts without compromising high energy density, the company said in a press release.
The company noted that its lithium-ion cell architecture is different from the conventional jellyroll architecture which could lead to a conflict between energy density and safety. Its 3D cell architecture uses several intra-cell features that improve electrical, physical, and environmental abuse tolerance. In addition to the BrakeFlow technology, the Enovix cell architecture has the following features:
- Provides better Lithium Plating Protection over graphite anode cells due to a 100% active silicon anode (140mV higher lithiation potential1)
- Enables hotspot reduction and heat dissipation due to excellent thermal conductivity (nearly 5X cell thermal conductivity compared to similar pouch cells2);
- Includes enhanced protection from physical abuse, including crush, pinch, and nail penetration due to its mechanical internal constraint system; and
- Is designed to limit movement of the anode, cathode and separator due to internal “pinning,” which is a known source of internal shorting in conventional Li-ion batteries.
Harrold Rust, co-founder and CEO of Enovix, shared a bit of the company’s approach and goals in a statement.
“When we founded Enovix in 2007, our approach to improving cell performance was unique from other advanced battery technology companies,” he said. “Solving a big problem differently than others is inherently challenging and creates unique issues. At the same time, it avoids problems others face and enables new opportunities others can’t exploit or even imagine. Today’s announcement is a momentous day for Enovix. It’s a great example of how taking a different approach can lead to game-changing technology.”
Co-founder and CTO of Enovix, Ashok Lahiri, added:
“We believe our battery architecture is one of the most significant advancements in Li-ion battery design in decades.
“Not only does our architecture enable a 100 percent active silicon anode, which notably increases energy density, but also enables us to launch new innovations like BrakeFlow, which by design, reduces the temperature rise at a short location, adding exceptional tolerance against thermal runaway.”
Cam Dales, GM and Chief Commercial Officer of Enovix, spoke about safety and how BrakeFlow limits overheating.
“BrakeFlow ushers in a new level of safety in Li-ion battery design. Adding BrakeFlow can significantly limit overheating during an internal shorting event, which is the primary cause of thermal runaway,” he said. “Additionally, the mechanical robustness of our cell architecture allows customers designing for rugged environmental conditions to choose our high energy density pouch cells over lower energy density prismatic cells. This is just another example of what sets us apart from other advanced Li-ion battery manufacturers.”
The new technology will become a part of Enovix’s automatic tooling and production set at its Fremont factory, Fab-1, the company stated, while noting that it plans to make the technology available in its battery cells in 2023.
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