Sicona's fast-charging battery tech to be developed by Himadri in India
A breakthrough Australian technology that promises 40 per cent faster charging times for lithium batteries has attracted interest from overseas.
Wollongong startup Sicona has licensed the rights to its technology, SiCx, to Indian chemicals company Himadri.
The product is a silicon carbon anode that is added to lithium-ion batteries to improve efficiency.
As part of the deal, Himadri will make a $15 million investment in the Wollongong business and will have the right to create its own facility producing the product in India.
"The revenue that it will generate for us in terms of royalties is in the tens of millions of dollars that will flow over quite a long period."
In the initial stages, Himadri's investment will allow the Wollongong company to expand its laboratory operations in the Illawarra and employ more staff.
In the long term, Himadri's plan to build its own manufacturing facility producing Sicona's product will form the blueprint for the Australian company establishing its own facility elsewhere, most likely in the US.
Previously, Mr Jordaan has spoken out about the difficulty in setting up manufacturing facilities in Australia, forcing home-grown ideas into development overseas.
"The Australian government needs to incentivise local manufacturing, as other governments like the US [have] ... there is a lot of protectionist trade policy being implemented."
Mr Jordaan said not having to build a large, first-of-its-kind manufacturing facility would allow Sicona to learn from Himadri's experience.
"This is a very neat way to overcome that challenge for us to get our first commercial-scale operation … our vision is to become the largest producer of these materials globally.
"Over time, that means we want to build and operate ourselves and while we have that intention in the US already, we're looking at other opportunities … to build globally."
Sicona previously proposed a commercial-scale lithium-ion battery factory in the Illawarra suburb of Shellharbour.
Lithium-ion batteries have many uses, but they all have a cathode positive side and an anode negative side.
The cathode side has materials like nickel, cobalt and manganese, while the anode is predominantly graphite.
When Sicona's product was mixed in with an anode's graphite, Mr Jordaan said the impact was significant.
"It boosts the storage capacity of the battery overall," he said.
There are a number of sectors driving the need for better-quality lithium-ion batteries.
Examples include artificial intelligence in personal devices that use batteries, militaries using autonomous drones, the development of humanoid robots and electric vehicles.
"What I've observed in China most recently is almost every new vehicle that you find on the road is electric," Mr Jordaan said.
"Artificial intelligence is driving higher power requirements for other devices, including mobile phones, laptops and robots.
"All of that requires denser and better batteries … and is driving huge demand for our product and our technology."
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