Funding Selections: Platform Technologies for Transformative Battery Manufacturing

Office: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO)
FOA Number: DE-FOA-0003236
Funding Amount: $25,540,000

On December 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) announced 11 selections through its Platform Technologies for Transformative Battery Manufacturing program. The goal of this program is to create platform materials and technologies for the manufacturing of sodium-ion batteries, flow batteries, and nanolayered films, as well as systems frameworks to leverage smart manufacturing technologies in battery production.

The selected projects will support activities to advance platform technologies that enable flexible, scalable, and highly controllable battery manufacturing processes. The 11 selected projects will directly support the growth of domestic battery manufacturing capabilities as well as the manufacturing goals of DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge and Long-Duration Storage Shot. 

The next-generation batteries projects fall under two topic areas: Platforms for Next Generation Battery Manufacturing and Smart Manufacturing Platforms for Battery Production

Explore the Selected Projects

Subtopic 1.1: Processes and Machines for Sodium-Ion Batteries - focuses on advanced processes and/or high-performance processing machines for low cost, large-scale, sustainable, commercial manufacture of sodium-ion batteries.

  • AM Batteries, Inc. 
    Project: Development of Novel Dry Electrode Manufacturing Process for Sodium-Ion Batteries
    Project Partners: Unigrid & The Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion at The University of Chicago
    Location: Billerica, Massachusetts
    Federal Funding: $2,790,000    

    This project will develop solvent-free electrode coating technology to fully enable advanced sodium-ion chemistry. This technology has the potential to improve energy density, reduce manufacturing costs, lower manufacturing energy for cathode electrodes, enable scalability, and foster collaboration and knowledge exchange.   

  • Argonne National Laboratory
    Project: Pilot Continuous Hydrothermal Manufacturing Process for Hard Carbon Production from Domestic Petroleum Coke Feedstocks
    Project Partners: ACT-ion Battery Technologies
    Location: Lemont, Illinois
    Federal Funding: $1,490,000

    This continuous hydrothermal process uses various feedstocks to produce fine-tuned high-performance hard carbon via rapid carbonization and condensation at relatively low temperatures. This process provides an alternative approach to hard carbon production, at lower cost and with potential for greater more promising performance levels, enabling an effective and competitive sodium-ion battery supply chain in the United States.

  • Clean Republic SODO LLC d/b/a Dakota Lithium Materials
    Project: Eco-Friendly Manufacturing of High-Performance NaFePO4-based Cathode Materials for Low-Cost and Long-Duration Sodium-Ion Batteries
    Project Partners: Boise State University and Savannah River National Laboratory
    Location: Seattle, Washington & Grand Forks, North Dakota
    Federal Funding: $1,990,000


    This project leverages the eco-friendly pilot-scale lithium iron phosphate manufacturing process to produce low-cost, high-performance cathode materials for long-duration sodium-ion batteries. The proposed dry mixing of feedstocks like sodium carbonate and iron phosphate with bio-additives like glucose can significantly decrease energy consumption and allow for the use of less-expensive feedstocks while eliminating water and other solvents from the process. The deployment of this technology will directly strengthen the capability of domestic advanced manufacturing of energy materials. 

Subtopic 1. 2: Processes and Design for Manufacturability of Flow Batteries - focuses on design and manufacturing of flow battery membranes, as well as system design and manufacturing for scale-up of flow battery production and cost-effective integration of flow battery systems.

  • Quino Energy, Inc.
    Project: Low-Cost, Large Tank Form Factor Redox Flow Batteries Leveraging Existing Fuel Storage Infrastructure
    Project Partners: CellCube, Richardson Electronics, South Coast Terminals, and the University of Houston
    Location: San Leandro, California
    Federal Funding: $2,590,000 

    This project will develop innovative aqueous organic quinone redox flow battery (QRFB) technology in large tank form factor made of carbon steel, commonly used in oil and fuel storage infrastructure. By repurposing steel tanks for QRFBs, this technology will be able to significantly reduce the balance of plant cost and installation of redox flow batteries, thereby gaining widespread acceptance by site owners and insurers.

  • Arkema Inc.
    Project: High Performance Non-Perfluorosulfonic Acid Membranes for Next Generation Redox Flow Batteries
    Project Partners: Tetramer Technologies, Stryten Energy, & Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
    Location: King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
    Federal Funding: $2,140,000

    This project will build a scalable, cost-effective technology platform where non-perfluorosulfonic acid (non-PFSA) ion exchange membranes can be tailored for flow batteries that operate under low and/or neutral pH conditions, without significant disruption of the overall membrane route to manufacture. This technology will manufacture more conductive, selective, and durable membranes at a lower cost than current state-of-the-art membranes. This will enable cheaper, scalable, mechanically robust, high-performance composite ion exchange membranes for flow battery applications. 

  • University of Akron 
    Project: Scalable Manufacturing of the Anion Exchange Membranes with Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity from Commodity Polymers – Membrane Development and Manufacturing Platform for Redox Flow Battery
    Project Partners: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Parker Hannifin Corp. & Schaeffler Group USA
    Location: Akron, Ohio
    Federal Funding: $1,590,000

    This project will provide platform technology that supports the manufacturing and customization of membranes serving the needs of various Redox flow batteries. The project will focus on developing polymers of intrinsic microporosity materials tailored for RFB membranes, enhancing ionic conductivity, selectivity, and stability. Additionally, the team aims to develop and optimize scalable manufacturing processes to produce large-area membranes efficiently and cost-effectively. 

Subtopic 1.3: Scalable Manufacturing of Nanolayered Films for Energy Storage - focuses on scalable manufacturing processes and equipment for nanolayered films.

  • University of Maryland: College Park 
    Project: Microfabricated Nanolayers for Solid-State Microbatteries and Ionic Capacitors Flow
    Project Partners: Forge Nano
    Location: College Park, Maryland
    Federal Funding: $2,590,000
     

    This project aims at strengthening a manufacturable, microfabrication-driven battery technology by transferring atomic layer deposition processes from lab-scale research to manufacturing scale tools. The tools will enable microfabricated 3D solid state batteries and ionic capacitors for commercial applications. 

  • Illinois Institute of Technology and Spraying System Co.
    Project: Novel Spray Deposition for Large-Scale Production of Multilayered Dielectric Capacitors and Rechargeable Batteries
    Location: Chicago, Illinois and Glendale Heights, Illinois
    Federal Funding: $2,590,000


    This project will address the challenge of scalable manufacturing of nanolayered films for dielectric capacitors and rechargeable batteries. The project will develop a dry electrostatic spray process and prototype machine for fabricating sandwich-structured capacitors and rechargeable battery electrodes with uniform thickness over a large area. The high-energy density dielectric capacitors and rechargeable batteries developed from this project will greatly improve energy harvesting during regenerative braking of electric vehicles.  

Topic 2: Smart Manufacturing Platforms for Battery Production - emphasizes development of broadly applicable smart manufacturing platforms that can be leveraged to improve the production of a variety of battery technologies.

  • Charge CCCV 
    Project: Advancing Lithium-Ion Battery Electrode Manufacturing through Machine-Learning Enabled In-situ Quality Control
    Project Partners: FastCap Systems Corp d/b/a Nanoramic Laboratories & Argonne National Laboratory
    Location: Vestal, New York
    Federal Funding: $2,590,000

    This project will develop the manufacturing-scale smart digital platform to utilize in-line data and make predictions through well-defined Application Programmatic Interfaces. Using datasets from national lab and industry partners, the project will create models for in-line production decision making. The project will enable significant progress in the physics-driven simulation at both the cell and factory level and improve the fidelity of the current digital twin capabilities, thereby improving development timelines, reducing R&D overheads, and eliminating costly wasted trials.    

  • American Lithium Energy Corporation 
    Project: Innovative Non-Invasive Sensorics for Process Efficiency, Control, and Traceability
    Project Partners: Siemens Corporation, ReElement Technologies, & Voltaiq
    Location: Carlsbad, California
    Federal Funding: $2,590,000

    The project will take a holistic approach to smart manufacturing for digital integration by incorporating a continuous in-process improvement loop accelerated by sensor integration and data-driven insights. The project will address the entire manufacturing process from cell/pack buildup and factory floor optimization to streamlined orchestration of manufacturing operations. It will also evaluate an ecosystem approach for on-site recycling of manufacturing scrap for a circular, self-sufficient, and zero-waste capability. The team will adopt digital thread/digital tools for improved performance metrics for their battery cells.

  • Titan Advanced Energy Solutions 
    Project: Smart Battery Manufacturing Enabled by Real-Time High Resolution Cell Morphology Monitoring and Control
    Project Partners: Harris Hill Automation & Bureau Veritas
    Location: Salem, Massachusetts
    Federal Funding: $2,590,000

    This project will develop a cell inspection platform using data-driven digital techniques to reduce the cost of manufacturing quality. These real-time services will focus on defect detection and cell uniformity, supporting predictive analytics and integrating into existing factory data pipelines. The intelligent inspection technology will accelerate time to market and improve scalability for U.S. battery cell manufacturers, raising domestic competitiveness for this critical industry.   

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