Quebec materials firm lands $2.9M in SDTC funds for lithium-ion, graphene battery
by Cleantech Canada Staff
The project at Raymor Industries will integrate the highly-conductive carbon-based material into batteries and aims to improve both performance and longevity
Electric vehicles are creating strong demand for higher capacity lithium-ion batteries. Battery cells in an experimental Mercedes truck seen here. PHOTO: Daimler
BOISBRIAND, Que.—The federal government is backing a cleantech development project at a materials company in the Montreal suburbs.
Raymor Industries Inc. manufactures carbon nanotubes for the electronics industry, but has also been developing technology to integrate graphene into lithium-ion batteries.
The $2.9 million in Sustainable Development Technology Canada funding will help the company accelerate its research and development efforts on the project, which has the potential to create batteries that perform better and last longer.
“This constitutes a critical milestone for the development of our nano-materials division,” Jacques Mallette, the company’s CEO, said in a statement, adding that the company is hoping to find the same level of success with the new technology that it did with its previous additive manufacturing business, which is now owned by GE.
Long touted as revolutionary material, graphene consists of an extremely thin layer of carbon atoms and is highly conductive. Though the list of possible applications is seemingly endless, the market for the material is still developing.
Few details about the new battery technology were released, but along with improved capacity and lower costs, Raymor said the integration of graphene would also lead to decreased life cycle emissions by reducing the amount of CO2 produced during the manufacturing process.
