Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups in the energy industry. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we decided to share our insights with you. So, let’s take a look at promising liquid metal and metal air battery solutions.
Heat Map: 5 Top Liquid Metal & Metal Air Battery Startups
For our 5 picks of liquid metal and metal air battery startups, we used a data-driven startup scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 interesting examples out of 50 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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Pellion Technologies – Lithium Metal
The liquid metal battery is a technology suitable for grid-scale electricity storage. The liquid battery is the only battery where all three active components are liquid when the battery operates. These batteries improve the integration of renewable resources into the power grid as well as the reliability of an aging grid.
The US-based Pellion Technologies develops a lithium metal battery which significantly increases power and reduces the weight of a conventional lithium-ion battery. Currently, the company works on improving the battery’s life.
Ambri – Magnesium-Antimony
These high-capacity batteries consist of molten metals that naturally separate to form two electrodes in layers on either side of the molten salt electrolyte between them. The system operates at elevated temperatures maintained by self-heating during charging and discharging.
Ambri, a startup from the USA, develops a magnesium-antimony battery with the aim to revolutionize grid-scale power storage. The company claims its liquid metal battery responds to grid signals in milliseconds as well as stores up to twelve hours of energy and discharges it slowly over time.
NantEnergy – Zinc-Air
A zinc-air battery stores electricity from renewable sources by converting zinc oxide to zinc and oxygen. In order to discharge stored electricity when required, the battery converts the electrochemical energy from the zinc by oxidizing zinc with oxygen from the air, generating electrons.
The US-based NantEnergy provides scalable zinc-air rechargeable energy storage. This energy storage is less expensive, has a longer life, and is better for the environment than the typical lead-acid batteries or diesel generators it replaces. The company’s batteries deliver renewable power for rural regions of Indonesia and Africa as well as reduce electricity bills for commercial and industrial businesses.
Phinergy – Aluminium-Air
The aluminum-air battery technology is based on the reaction of oxygen in the air with aluminum. Because of their massive energy density, these batteries are perfectly suitable for electric vehicles, as they allow for significant weight reduction.
Italian Phinergy develops light, non-flammable and non-explosive, fully recyclable aluminum-air and zinc-air batteries with high energy density.
E-stone – Iron-Air
Besides the common advantage of all metal-air batteries – high energy density – iron–air rechargeable batteries have additional benefits, such as low cost, an abundance of raw material (iron oxide), safety and recyclability. Because of the above-mentioned benefits, these batteries have the potential for grid-scale energy storage applications.
Dutch startup E-stone develops a novel iron-sulfur electrode that enables low-cost, high-performance nickel-iron and iron-air batteries. For its prototypes, the company uses patented iron-electrode formulation and a cheap fabrication method which enables the manufacturing of one of the cheapest battery electrodes.
What About The Other 45 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence for your Proof of Concept (PoC), partnership, or investment targets. The 5 liquid metal and metal air battery startups showcased above are promising examples out of 50 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
