A Canadian clean energy innovator and a leading Canadian university are collaborating on a project to advance high-power, niobium-based lithium batteries for defense and industrial systems.
Toronto’s NEO Battery Materials and the University of Toronto have been granted a multi-year, non-dilutive $180,000 research investment through the Mitacs Accelerate program for their project, “Rational Design of Nb-Based Multi-Transition-Metal Oxide Anodes for Fast-Charging, High-Safety Lithium-Ion Batteries.”
NEO is a battery technology company focused on developing and producing silicon-enhanced lithium-ion batteries in drones, robotics, and energy storage systems via a patented process.
“This Mitacs award allows us to pursue a complementary battery platform alongside our high-energy silicon anode portfolio using non-dilutive capital and specialized academic expertise,” stated Spencer Huh, chief executive officer NEO.
“Commercializing high power density and non-flammable chemistries will address increasing needs in both defense and grid-scale power,” Huh said.
“With the University of Toronto, we will collaboratively work to translate material innovations into practical cell designs for agile integration into active systems,” he remarked.
The project, to be conducted in cooperation with the University of Toronto’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, will be directed by Dr. Patrick Lee, a Professor of Mechanical Engineering who functions as Senior Scientific Advisor of NEO.
“Niobium-based battery materials are highly promising for applications that require fast charging, high power, and improved safety,” commented Lee.
“Through this collaboration, we are excited to work with NEO Battery through this Mitacs-supported project to advance Canada’s homegrown lithium-ion battery technologies for defence and industrial energy storage applications,” he stated.
NEO’s targeted end-use applications for the technology include defence submarines, short-range ballistic missiles, and battery backup units for AI data centres.
For example, NEO Battery Materials this year signed a defence technology partnership agreement with the Republic of Korea.
The agreement will see the Canadian cleantech firm support the Korea Army’s Capital Mechanized Infantry Division, an elite armoured combat unit tasked with defending the capital and conducting counter-offensive missions against North Korean threats.
Through the partnership, NEO and the Infantry Division will jointly develop high-energy, high-power battery technologies for military drones and unmanned systems; the Army intends to deploy NEO’s high-performance batteries directly to the Division’s drone platforms for operator training and field use.
Last year, NEO secured eight acres of surplus lands near Windsor Airport in Ontario to establish Canada’s first advanced silicon anode manufacturing facility. The firm later revealed a three-acre site in South Korea and a joint development agreement with a local industrial robotics company that specializes in autonomous mobile robotics.
Trading on the TSXV as NBM, NEO Battery Materials was established in 2006 as Pan Andean Minerals before rebranding in 2021.