XG Sciences - Page 2

XG Sciences, a US-based developer and producer of graphene flakes, has announced its plan to invest millions in expanding its Lansing-area facilities. The company will start operating out of new 64,000 square-foot facility in Vevay Township in March.

The company was formed in 2006 based on work out of Michigan State University. The company's technology can be used in automotive batteries and as wire coatings in electronics to prevent microchips from overheating. Some of the material has been used in Samsung phones as a thermally conductive adhesive, said current CEO Philip Rose. Rose also said the expansion marks the first phase in a move toward larger scale commercialization for the company.

XG Sciences, a supplier of graphene nanoplatelets and value-added products containing graphene nanoplatelets, recently announced that it has closed an agreement with The Dow Chemical Company for up to a $10 million senior credit facility, which may be drawn down in tranches by XGS at its discretion through December 2019.

The company received $2 million under this facility at close and may draw another $3 million at its discretion at any time prior to the first anniversary of the agreement. After the first anniversary of the closing, the company may access the remaining $5 million, provided it has raised at least $10 million of additional equity capital. XG Sciences and Dow agreed to hold commercial discussions including the potential out-license of certain of Dow’s manufacturing IP related to graphene nanoplatelets to XGS.

I recently had an interesting talk with XG Sciences' Sr. Director of Business Development, Dr. Percy Chinoy. Percy updated on XGS' technology and business. Among several other applications of graphene, XGS has been collaborating with battery developers and their supply chain partners for a few years.

XGS is involved in three battery-related applications: silicon-graphene electrodes, and graphene additives in Li-Ion battery and Lead-acid battery electrodes. As a supplier, XGS has to work with the product schedules of other companies - but XGS is positive that we will see these products being launched in 2017.

XG Sciences has received a DOE Round 2 small business award for $150,000, which it will use to support its efforts to develop low-cost manufacturing of a silicon-graphene composite anode. According to the company, one goal for the new anode type is to reduce the formation of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI).

The SEI layer is a film composed of electrolyte reduction products that start forming on the surface of the anode during the initial battery charge. It functions as an ionic conductor that enables lithium to migrate through the film during charging and discharging allowing the battery to operate in an efficient and reversible manner. Under typical operating conditions, it also serves as an electronic insulator that prevents further electrolyte reduction on the anode. However, as the silicon in next-generation anodes expands and contracts, it essentially cracks apart that layer and then makes more. Over time it ends up with a very thick resistive film on the anode, which causes it to lose both capacity and power.

XG Sciences aims to raise $24 million through an initial public offering to fund operations, as it continues to commercialize composite materials for lithium-ion batteries and other applications. Of the $24 million XGS hopes to raise through an IPO, $11.4 million will go to fund operations for the next two years, by which time the company might begin generating positive cash flow from operations. Proceeds from the IPO would also go to working capital, and to increase capacity and its sales and technical service staff.

While the company has accumulated operating losses exceeding $43 million during its development stage, the securities filing cites a growing customer list and order volume. XG Sciences projects 2016 revenues of $5 million to $10 million through the sale of graphene and graphene nanoplatelets for electronic and industrial products that use lithium-ion batteries. A number of companies are currently testing XG Sciences’ materials for applications including lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, thermal shielding, inks and coatings, printed electronics, construction products, composites and military uses.

XG Sciences and Boston-Power have announced a joint development agreement, aimed at customizing XG Sciences’ silicon-graphene anode materials for use in Boston-Power’s lithium-ion battery products. 

The plan is to optimize electrochemical and microstructural electrode performance, as well as developing electrode and battery manufacturing techniques using the two companies’ proprietary materials. The companies see a real synergy between Boston-Power’s battery engineering and design capabilities and the new XG-SiG anode materials. Boston-Power has the ability to design and manufacture the battery, while XG Sciences has the ability to customize the anode materials to best fit the Boston-Power system.

The American XG Sciences demonstrated full battery cell cycle stability, through more than 400 charge/discharge cycles, with a charge storage capacity of 600 mAh/gram over a broad voltage window in its next generation silicon graphene anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

The company states that their latest material is the first commercially viable silicon and graphene based anode formulation to achieve this all important performance threshold, with charge storage capacity of up to 4 times today’s typical anodes, first cycle efficiency of 85-90%, low swelling and life that is more than double the company's previous generation. 

Smithers Apex announced the speakers for the first Graphene World Summit, a graphene-focused event that will take place September 15-16 in Kerkeley, California. The speaker list is quite impressive - and it includes IBM, Argonne National Laboratory, Applied Graphene Materials, Grafoid, Bluestone Global Tech, Cambridge Graphene Center, Cientifica, Graphene Frontiers, Graphene Technologies, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Graphenea, Strategic News Service, XG Sciences, Raytheon and more.

The summit will focus on bringing together the scientific and business communities. Planned sessions at event include the global path to standardization, innovation and commercialization; investment strategies; material development and production case studies; and game-changing applications and commercialization success stories.

XG Sciences announced that Samsung Ventures placed a strategic investment in the company. XGS did not disclose the terms of the investment, but they said that it will be used to "fund additional research and development of the company’s advanced materials".

XG Sciences also plans to formalize their development work with Samsung SDI (the world's largest Li-Ion battery maker) in a joint development program aimed at next-generation batteries for consumer electronics and other devices.

In April 2013 XG Sciences launched new graphene-based anode materials for Li-Ion batteries that has four times the capacity of conventional anodes. The new anode materials use the XG's xGnP graphene nanoplatelets to stabilize silicon particles in a nano-engineered composite structure. Today XG Sciences has been awarded $1 million in funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for continued development of these lithium-ion battery materials.

XG Sciences says that their anode materials offer battery manufacturers opportunities to create batteries with much greater energy storage capacity without significantly increasing the battery size. The DOE funded a two-year program, during which XGS will lead a multifunctional research team that includes battery maker A123 Systems and the Georgia Institute of Technology, who will participate in prototype cell build, testing, and advanced characterization and analysis.