New 5 Year R&D Sponsorship Signed with Dalhousie University
Brisbane, Feb 12, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - NOVONIX Limited (
ASX:NVX) (GC3:FRA) (NVNXF:OTCMKTS) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned, Canadian-based subsidiary, Novonix Battery Technology Solutions ("Novonix BTS"), will extend its sponsorship of Prof. Mark Obrovac's lab at Dalhousie University through a new research agreement under the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada's Alliance Grants Program.
- Novonix will extend its sponsorship of Professor Mark Obrovac's Research Group for a subsequent 5-year term under a new agreement
- Novonix will have first rights to IP developed from this agreement
- The Canadian government's NSERC Alliance program will contribute CA$2.2M over the 5-year term
Novonix BTS had sponsored Prof. Obrovac's group for the previous 2 years through the NSERC Industrial Research Chair (IRC) Program. Under the new five year program, NSERC will contribute a total of CA$2,202,834 and Novonix BTS will contribute CA$1,110,420. This funding will be used for equipment, support for new students and researchers as well as necessary research materials.
Novonix Chief Executive, Dr. Chris Burns, said, "We are excited to renew our relationship with Dr. Obrovac's lab. It has been extremely valuable to have a team focused on new materials projects across a range of battery materials. The synergy of this lab located so close to our development center in Halifax allows our team to quickly assess materials or processes on our battery cell pilot line and with Novonix BTS's significant internal testing resources."
Novonix has previously announced multiple patent application filings that have come from research in Prof. Obrovac's group including patent applications related to Dry Particle Microgranulation (DPMG) technology and the ability to increase yield in the anode manufacturing process as well as synthesize single and polycrystalline high-nickel cathode materials.
Novonix BTS is expanding its team to commercialize and demonstrate the cathode technology starting with the installed in-house cathode pilot processing capability based on the DPMG technology.
Prof. Obrovac said, "It is great to be able to continue our relationship with Novonix. As a partner, Novonix has provided opportunities for commercialization of our developed technology and a place for our students and researchers to gain experience around battery development and testing. I'm also excited for the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Jeff Dahn later this year when he joins the Novonix team."
Novonix announced that in June 2021, Prof. Jeff Dahn will be joining the Novonix team, serving as the company's Chief Scientific Advisor. Prof. Dahn is a world renowned researcher also at Dalhousie University working with a group sponsored by Tesla. Prof. Obrovac completed his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dahn in 2001.
In addition to its Canadian operations, Novonix operates the PUREgraphite anode material plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is ramping capacity to 2,000 tons/year of synthetic graphite.
Included in this increased output will be the supply of an initial 500 tons to Samsung SDI, one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery makers for EVs. As the only US supplier of synthetic graphite to tier-one EV battery producers, Novonix also has a non-binding agreement with Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation of Japan) to assess production materials from this plant.
ABOUT DALHOUSIE
Dalhousie University is Atlantic Canada's leading research-intensive university. Located in the heart of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with an Agricultural Campus in Truro/Bible Hill, Dalhousie is a truly national and international university, with more than half of the university's 20,000-plus students coming from outside the province. Dal's 6,000 faculty and staff foster a diverse, purpose-driven community, one that spans 13 faculties and conducts more than $181 million in research annually. Part of a cluster identified as one of the world's top international centres in ocean research, the university proudly celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2018.
ABOUT PROFESSOR MARK OBROVAC
Professor Mark Obrovac is a leading battery materials innovator having authored over 90 peer reviewed journal articles, fifteen issued patents with a further twelve patents pending in the field of battery science covering anodes, cathode, electrolyte and binder materials.
Regularly called on to review funding applications and to provide advice for Canada's NSERC and U.S. DOE battery programs for fuel cells for EV.
- DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY (9/10 - Present) Canada
Professor at Dalhousie University
Industrial Research Chair of NSERC/3M CORPORATION (2010 - 2018)
Industrial Research Chair of NSERC/NOVONIX (2018 - Present)
- 3M CORPORATION (7/02 - 8/10) USA
Project leader of Anode Materials Group with 3M Corporation
Research group became one of the top research teams in the world that with several fundamental discoveries describing the electrochemistry of silicon.
- BLUESTAR BATTERY SYSTEMS (5/95 - 8/95) Canada
Successfully developed electrolytes for primary carbon monofluoride batteries.
- BALLARD ADVANCED MATERIALS (09/93 - 12/93) Canada
Developed methods to synthesize and characterize solid lithium-ion electrolytes.
- MOLI ENERGY (9/90 - 08/92) Canada
Worked on solid polymer electrolytes and cathode thermal stability for safety.
About NOVONIX Limited
NOVONIX Limited (ASX:NVX) (FRA:GC3) (OTCMKTS:NVNXF) is an integrated developer and supplier of high-performance materials, equipment and services for the global lithium-ion battery industry with operations in the USA and Canada and sales in more than 14 countries. NOVONIX's mission is to support the global deployment of lithium-ion battery technologies for a cleaner energy future.
| ||
|
