Lyten Inc., a leading supplier of 3D Graphene materials, announced Jan. 30 that it has secured a $4 million grant from the US Energy Department (DOE) to accelerate the manufacturing of its advanced lithium-sulfur battery technology.
The grant, awarded by the DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy/Vehicle Technologies Office, specifically targets lithium-sulfur technologies that can alleviate offshore supply chain risk for electric vehicle batteries and increase EV driving range.
Notably, the lithium-sulfur chemistry utilizes abundantly available low-cost sulfur, and has the potential to deliver greater than twice the energy density of lithium-ion nickel, manganese, cobalt (NMC) chemistries. Moreover, the lithium-sulfur chemistry does not require critical minerals such as nickel and cobalt in the cathode or graphite in the anode, enabling a locally sourced, locally manufactured EV battery.
According to the press note, the DOE grant awards for lithium-sulfur follow the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law in December 2023 with bipartisan support, which will prohibit the US Defense Department from buying batteries produced by China’s largest manufacturers starting in October 2027. “This ban reinforces the urgency to accelerate the development and rapid scale up of rechargeable cells with alternative battery chemistries, like lithium-sulfur, that offer localized supply chains for strategic defense applications and high energy density to support mobility and transportation electrification,” it said.
For this grant, Lyten is working with Stanford University, the University of Texas-Austin and industrial partner Arcadium Lithium (formed via merger of Livent and Allkem). Separately, Lyten is a subrecipient on a DOE grant awarded to Purdue University to improve modeling capabilities for lithium-sulfur cells.
It can be recalled that in the third quarter of 2023, Lyten had raised $200 million through a Series B round, bringing total investment up to $410 million to scale 3D Graphene applications and lithium-sulfur battery manufacturing. Lyten investors include Stellantis, FedEx, Honeywell and Walbridge, among others.
Commenting on the new grant, Dan Cook, CEO and co-founder of Lyten, said, “We are encouraged by both the Department of Defense and Department of Energy’s support for alternative battery technologies, in particular breakthrough technologies like lithium-sulfur that are critical to establishing energy security and supply chain independence. The US has an opportunity to gain the lead in technological breakthroughs necessary to overcome barriers holding back mass scale electrification.”
