Talga to scale-up operations following positive battery anode product test results

Talga Technologies is scaling up its R&D operations at the Bradfield Center on Cambridge Science Park. The reported that this move comes as tests showed that Talga’s Li-ion battery anode product, Talnode-C, outperforms existing lithium battery technology in cold weather situations, where lithium products have traditionally struggled.

We make graphene and graphite materials, says Talga Resources R&D manager, Sai Shivareddy. Graphene is made by an electrochemical exfoliation process in an aqueous electrolyte water plus salt by using our natural graphite rocks in electrodes.

Talga has a team at the Bradfield as well as an office at the Maxwell Center investigating how to scale up production using this new process. Scaling up production is now reportedly within reach following the discovery of millions of tonnes of copper-cobalt deposits which contains the graphite from which graphene can be developed at Talga’s site in Kiskama in northern Sweden.

We are targeting exponential growth in battery making facilities in Europe, Dr Shivareddy says. Being in Sweden gives us security of supply. If 30% of vehicles in Europe were electric, you’d need three million tons of graphite and at the moment Europe makes not even one percent of that. Big resources are needed to make the shift to a sustainable low carbon economy, and we take clean technology very seriously.

Talga's technology may also solve a long-running issue - charging at low temperatures.

"We've solved the issue of charging at low temperatures," says Sai. Talnode-C retains 100% capacity and 100% cycle efficiency at 0°C, outperforming current commercial products in tests at a leading independent battery institute in Japan. Talga's high-energy battery anode products also offer 70% more density than graphite-only anodes, adding further performance gains.