Parity
From PARITY™ Material to TENIX™ Blends
Today’s batteries have a first principals problem: they are trying to increase energy density with materials that are simply not energy dense. Traditional intercalation cathodes with only about five percent of atoms available for reaction can’t hope to compare to gasoline, which has nearly all of its atoms available for combustion. Ten-Nine Tech addresses the first principles problem by making nanoparticles that have most of their atoms on the surface, and then chemically altering the surface for even more electroreactivity. In doing so we achieved a material energy density of 12,584 Wh/kg, on par with gasoline.
In 2017, Ten-Nine Technologies announced that we had achieved fossil fuel parity—energy density equivalent to combustion of hydrocarbons—in an electroactive material.
Following that breakthrough material announcement, applied research—focused on the PARITY™ material’s utilization in industrially relevant formats—showed that the best product-market fit is in blends with traditional battery materials.
At first it felt disappointing that we weren’t going to immediately commercialize an electrode with fossil fuel-level energy density. But successful market entry is a balance of many factors, including the need to supply substantial quantities at reasonable cost.
Our TENIX™ blend strategy allows us to enter the market while continuing to work with our partners toward ever-higher percentages of PARITY™ material and the dream of abundant and affordable clean energy. If you’d like to be one of those partners, please get in touch.
First Principles
Renewable energy requires better battery storage to enhance reliability and mobility, and Ten-Nine Tech creates new materials that make batteries better. Constituents in standard intercalated lithium-ion batteries have about five percent of atoms available for reaction, while all of the atoms in gasoline are available for combustion to produce energy. To achieve this higher energy density found in fossil fuels, Ten-Nine Tech solves the first principles problem by making more atoms available for reaction in readily available ingredients from the friendly parts of the periodic table. Ten-Nine Tech’s new proprietary PARITY™ materials have an energy density of 12,584 Wh/kg, which is essentially on par with gasoline.
That was then...
This is now.
Testing
The best means for comparing different energy sources is to use a measurement of the amount of energy produced per quantity of material conveyed in standard units. While there are many important factors between the burning of gasoline and its use in an internal combustion engine, or between the generation of electrons in an electrode and a battery pack, the most basic comparison starts where the science of those two delivery systems begins—with the energy inherent in their active materials.
Tests of PARITY™ materials were conducted at two independent testing laboratories, the Battery Innovation Center and NEI Corporation, in multiple cells and cell formats. Data were acquired at room temperature and a rate of C/20. Gravimetric energy density is given as measured for primary cell discharge in units of Watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) for PARITY™ active material. Energy density numbers for comparable battery materials were sourced from published experimental data on material capacities given in mAh/g, and multiplied by 3.7 V for full-cell operation to convert to Wh/kg.