Industry Insight

Ilika's Solid-State Prototype Delivered to OEM


INTERVIEW  Graeme Purdy, Ilika     

AEM explored the current progress of Ilika's portfolio, including their automotive Goliath battery, with CEO Graeme Purdy, a pioneer in solid-state batteries in the UK. Ilika's processes are already compatible with those used in LIB gigafactories, and they hope to complete the development of the Goliath A samples on time to license this technology to automotive OEMs and battery manufacturers.

written by Sang Min Han _　han@autoelectronics.co.kr
 
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Please provide a brief introduction of Ilika, including its beginnings, main mission and goals, milestones, and any other relevant information.　
Purdy        Ilika is a UK company based in Southampton, in the South of England. We have approximately 70 employees. This year is our 20th anniversary. We are pioneers in solid state batteries (SSB) for various markets: Stereax is our millimetre-scale SSB for Medtech and Internet of Things; Goliath is our Wh-level SSB technology for electric vehicles and cordless consumer electronics. Our business model is to license the intellectual property we have created to manufacturers and OEMs.


In the field of solid-state batteries, is a 20-year history considered long or short?
Purdy        We were not always developing SSB. In the early days, we were a contract R&D company. We had developed a high-throughput process that could produce libraries of 1000s of novel materials very rapidly, and combinatorial techniques that could characterise these chemical compositions quickly. In brief, we accelerated materials R&D for a portfolio of blue-chip companies including Asahi Kasei, Shell, Applied Materials, Toyota and Murata. On the basis of expertise we gained in the area of SSB, we initiated a pivot in 2014 when we started the development of our Stereax miniature SSB. In 2018, our mission became fully focused on SSB development with the start of the Goliath program. 








Could you introduce the Goliath solid-state battery technology?
Purdy        The goal of the Goliath program is to design an innovative SSB technology that will help pack designers reduce the weight of the vehicle’s battery whilst keeping high performance, hence enabling new and safe EVs with long range, rapid charge and high power. To achieve this, we have selected materials and a cell architecture that will yield battery performance as high as current NMC lithium-ion batteries (LIB) and safety parameters towards that of LFP cells.


Ilika’s technology is a pouch type and involves a liquid electrolyte process, which may give a sense of a semi-solid battery. What are your thoughts on this perspective?
Purdy        It is correct that the terms “solid state batteries” have been used to describe a range of technologies from 100% solid (like our Stereax technology) to some that still contain significant amount of liquid electrolyte. Whatever amount of liquid is contained in these products, what matters is what the benefits are: SSB technologies will only be adopted if they provide significant performance advantages vs incumbent lithium-ion chemistries, including fast charging, high energy density but also better safety at a comparable cost. For this reason, Ilika’s is not a liquid: you could cut our pouches with scissors and no liquid runs out.　     


There are several other solid-state battery companies globally, such as QuantumScape, Solid Power, QingTao, and PLG. Could you explain Ilika’s technological innovations, differentiators, and strengths?
Purdy        SSB developers typically differ from the chemistry they have selected. Different materials choice yield different performance mixes of energy, power, cycling life, safety, cost…  We have selected a Si-based anode, a non-flammable oxide-based solid electrolyte composite and a high-Ni content NMC cathode. The motivation for this unique selection is to optimise safety whilst achieving battery cycling data in line with current LIB. 


What are the key technical and commercial challenges associated with solid-state battery technology?　
Purdy        The obvious technical challenge with developing SSB is to replace the highly conductive liquid electrolyte in LIB by non-liquid but equally as conductive materials, in order to keep good power capabilities. Here, the solution lies in the electrolyte’s formulation and cell architecture. Commercially, the challenge is to ensure that SSB manufacturing equipment and processes are as similar as possible to those currently used for LIB production, otherwise adoption will be costly and delayed. At Ilika, we are already ensuring that our processes are compatible with those used in LIB gigafactories; for the few that are not, we are already developing the equipment required. 









What is the current status of the commercialization progress of the Goliath battery technology? What market entry strategies are you adopting for the commercialization of solid-state battery technology?　　　　
Purdy        We are aiming to end the development of our minimum viable product by end 2025 and have been sharing intermediate cells for evaluation with OEMs. Our asset-light business model demonstrates volume-manufacturing of A-samples on production-intent equipment (on a pilot line and by collaborating with volume-manufacturing demonstrators such as UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, UKBIC) and to license the technology to a company that will take charge of manufacturing beyond this point. Whilst there are no practical barriers against price parity between LIB and SSB, solid state cells will initially be manufactured at lower volume, in less commoditized facilities. Hence SSB will initially be attractive to markets in automotive that can afford a premium product for unique performance. 




How do the current partnerships and collaborations impact Ilika’s technology development and commercialization? Please share about major partnerships and their importance.
Purdy        Ilika is currently collaborating in 2 UK grant-funded projects. Project HISTORY aims to finish the development of pre-A  prototype samples. BMW Group and WAE Technologies have joined the project’s steering committee. We are partnering with Nexeon, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of battery materials. The consortium also includes: sustainable manufacturing company HSSMI; experts from 4 of the UK’s top Universities (St Andrews, University College London, University of Oxford and Imperial College); and technology innovation catalyst CPI, to model, characterize and deliver an automotive industry-defined SSB by project end. Project SiSTEM is our second collaborative project. In SiSTEM, partners MPac are developing a 1.5MWh SSB assembly line capable of delivering Ilika’s A-sample SSB pouch cells to automotive OEMs and Tier 1s. Additionally, UKBIC will undertake physical trials to demonstrate Ilika’s SSB electrodes at GWh scale.








What is the status of Stereax, and what are its potential and progress in this field?
Purdy        Stereax is a few years ahead of Goliath, in the sense that we have now licensed the technology to US medical device developer and manufacturer Cirtec Medical. There is a current trend in Medtech where designers of implanted medical devices are miniaturising the devices so they can be placed more efficiently near the organ they are intending to treat. Applications include: neurostimulation (implantation on nerves), smart orthopaedics (in prosthetic joints), cardiac sensing (implantation through arteries), glucose monitoring (sub-cutaneous), but also outside the body in smart dental braces and smart contact lenses. All these are enabled thanks to Stereax’s miniature size. Cirtec are currently finalising the transfer of the technology to their facilities in the USA, and first prototypes will become available later in 2025.  


What are your major goals and strategies for the next few years, including investment attraction?　　　
Purdy        The main goal for Ilika is to complete the development of the Goliath A-samples on time and license the technology to automotive OEMs and battery manufacturers. With both Stereax and Goliath programs eventually licensed, Ilika will remain technology developers and will follow its product road map with ever-improving new generations of products.


What connections do you have with Korea, and what are your expectations?　　　　　　　
Purdy        Korea has a solid reputation across the world for excellence in innovation and manufacturing in technology sectors that Ilika is targeting with its Stereax and Goliath products. Whilst we have indeed collaborated with Korean companies in the past, we are genuinely hopeful for further partnerships in the future.