Los Angeles, CA 90015, US
Energy Storage & Transport Power
www.axiumnano.com
Axium Nano is miniaturizing materials science from the microscale to the nanoscale, enabling disruptive structural and functional properties for a range of commercial and industrial applications, such as energy storage, coatings and sensors.
Axium Nano is commercializing proprietary processes that enable the broad implementation of nanotechnology in materials science. The miniaturization of transistors to the nanoscale had a profound impact on the semiconductor industry. However, the $1T advanced materials industry has been operating at the microscale and the rate of innovation has slowed precipitously as a result. Axium’s patented nanomanufacturing technologies are capable of producing graphene and nanoparticles at low cost and the Company captively uses these and other raw materials to manufacture high performance nanocomposite materials for a range of commercial and industrial applications. Conventional nanofabrication methods, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), are slow and very difficult to scale to commercial operations. CVD typically produces a few grams of nanocomposite material per hour, relegating these materials to very high value, niche applications. Axium’s processes can produce novel nanocomposites at a rate of 800-1,000 grams per minute.
Axium is initially focused on energy storage as its first commercial target. Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries have a limited energy storage capacity, thus constraining the functionality of mobile devices and the driving range of electric vehicles. Axium is commercializing a pipeline of battery materials for lithium ion batteries that greatly increase energy storage capacity, recharge rate and improve safety. The size of the global market for Li-ion battery materials exceeds $50B per year. Axium’s R&D team is also developing the proprietary materials for the battery technologies of the future. The Company has already developed high performance prototypes of a lithium sulfur battery that stores 5 times more energy than lithium ion and can be fabricated as a paper thin and flexible form factor. This battery platform could transform the hardware architectures of mobile and wearable devices.
Axium’s first product is a silicon graphene anode (electrode) that has proven to increase the energy storage capacity of a lithium ion (Li-ion) battery by approximately 40%. Axium’s anode has been tested by several major battery cell manufacturers and the Company’s proprietary material hits all of the specifications required by these companies and is price competitive with conventional graphite anodes. The global market for anode materials is forecasted to be a $6.5B market by 2020 growing at an annual rate of 25%. There are several development stage companies claiming to have high performance silicon/carbon anodes, but have yet to demonstrate their processes can scale and be low cost.
Axium’s R&D team is also developing an advanced separator material that has shown to greatly improve the recharge rate of Li-ion batteries while also improving safety. The global market for Li-ion battery separator materials is forecasted to be a $15.2B market by 2020 growing at an annual rate of 20%.
Eric Donsky has over 25 years experience in building very progressive cleantech and life science companies as a founder and senior manager. Eric was the founding CEO of TearLab Corporation, a publicly traded, in-vitro diagnostics company (NASDAQ:TEAR) that has successfully commercialized one of the world’s first point-of-care, nanofluidic lab-on-a-chip platforms. Shortly after Eric’s departure, Tearlab’s market capitalization reached $500M. Eric was also the founding Chairman of Singularis, a biotechnology company commercializing a highly lubricating, recombinant protein for a number of therapeutic indications. The Company recently completed a $500M licensing transaction. Eric was the founding CEO of Bioamber (NYSE:BIOA), one of the first synthetic biology companies developing processes capable of manufacturing chemicals and plastics from renewable carbon. Bioamber is building manufacturing capacity in 3 continents around the world and has $4B of contracted revenues.