Alabama Graphite Provides Graphite Product Samples to Stanford University for Large-Scale Aluminum Battery Development

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Oct. 13, 2016) – Alabama Graphite Corp. (TSXV:ALP,OTCQX:ABGPF) is very pleased to announce that it has provided eight different American-sourced and manufactured natural graphite product samples to Stanford University (“Stanford“), located in Stanford, California, USA. The graphite samples, which originated from AGC’s Coosa Graphite Project located in east-central Alabama, USA, will be used for Department of Chemistry Professor, Dr. Hongjie Dai‘s continued work on Aluminum-ion (“Al-ion“) battery development and more specifically, large-scale Al-ion battery development. As requested by Dr. Dai, the processed graphite products conveyed by AGC consisted of downstream and processed graphite samples of various size fractions with purity levels reaching as high as 99.98% Ct. The samples were manufactured utilizing multiple downstream (post primary production) processes to produce specialty graphite products for potential use in batteries. The downstream processes applied to the Company’s unfinished primary processed graphite concentrate included: low-temperature halogen-gas-based purification, classification, micronization, spheronization, and surface treatment (coating).
Dr. Dai commented positively concerning AGC’s downstream, non-polluting, low-temperature thermal purification process for purifying the Company’s graphite to 99.95% Ct and higher – without the use of dangerous and environmentally harmful hydrofluoric acid (as is commonly used in graphite production in China) or costly high-temperature thermal upgrading and purification (see September 29, 2015 announcement, ‘Alabama Graphite Corp. Achieves Purity of 99.99% Graphitic Carbon-Across All Flake Sizes-From Preliminary Purification Trials‘).
Dr. Dai and his group of Stanford scientists made significant news in April 2015 when they announced the invention of the first high-performance Al-ion battery that is faster charging, longer lasting and inexpensive when compared with many commonly-used commercial batteries (source: https://news.stanford.edu/2015/04/06/aluminum-ion-battery-033115/). The Al-ion battery was made of aluminum and graphite. It is not yet commercially available. “We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices,”commented Dr. Dai, who described his novel Al-ion battery as an “ultrafast” rechargeable battery with reported “unprecedented charging times.” The Stanford team was able to charge a smartphone to full capacity in one minute with the Al-ion battery prototype, as opposed to hours with a conventional Li-ion (secondary or rechargeable) battery. In comparison with many commercial batteries that are widely-used today, the prototype Al-ion battery has good capacity and outstanding cycle life, with no decay (capacity fade) even after 7,500 cycles. Grid-scale energy storage to manage electricity supply would benefit significantly from batteries that could withstand repeated cycling of discharging and charging. Current Li-ion batteries have comparatively limited lifetimes of only 1,000 to 3,000 cycles, which is adequate for the lifespan of most smartphone and home electronic products, but not ideal for long-life energy grid infrastructure applications. Financial support for Dr. Dai’s Al-ion battery research at Stanford was provided to Stanford University by the United States Department of Energy (“DOE“). AGC has not received any funding from the DOE and AGC did not receive any funds from Stanford University in exchange for the graphite products samples that were provided.
The primary difference between a conventional Li-ion battery – consisting of a graphite anode and a nickel cathode – and Stanford’s Al-ion battery is that the Al-ion battery consists of two electrodes: a negatively-charged anode made of aluminum metal and a positively charged cathode made of graphite. Dr. Dai’s research at Stanford provides a new approach to potentially enable fast-charging, bendable and durable aluminum-ion batteries, and may possibly lead to more affordable, safer batteries in the future (source:https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/stanford-researchers-unveil-new-ultrafast-charging-aluminum-ion-battery/).
Donald Baxter, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Director, of AGC stated, “We are honored to be working with Stanford University – one of the world’s most prestigious universities – and the world-renowned Dr. Dai with a myriad of our U.S.-sourced graphite product samples for this potentially ground-breaking battery research and development.
“While we firmly believe that lithium-ion batteries will remain the rechargeable battery technology of choice for the foreseeable future, the potential of Dr. Dai’s aluminum-ion batteries is both very exciting and promising – in particular as it pertains to large-scale storage applications, such as grid-scale electric storage,” commented Mr. Baxter. “Our relationship with Stanford University and Dr. Dai demonstrates AGC’s commitment to technological advancement and diversification.”
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