From E-magy website:

E-magy has invented a method to create new kind of silicon material with nano-sized pores. This nanoscale porous structure prevents the swelling and breaking completely, by actually containing the swelling within the nanopores themselves. After one hundred charge and discharge cycles, the swelling of a pouch cell with E-magy silicon has been found by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) to be less than 1 percent, well under the 10 percent that the battery industry deems acceptable. Furthermore, the company designed its solution for silicon-dominant application in high-performance Li-ion batteries without using low-capacity graphite as active material. This delivers 40 percent more energy density and enables faster charging compared to existing graphite solutions.

ESILIB: EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM OF LEADING EUROPEAN MATERIALS PARTIES

Six leading advanced battery materials partners (Ferroglobe, DCX Chrome, SUSTEC, University of Darmstadt, E-magy)  form the consortium of the collaborative research and innovation project ESiLib (Upscaling E-magy nanoporous Si-material for next generation Li-ion Battery anodes) to improve the sustainability of Li-ion battery anodes ESiLib will work towards developing a more sustainable way of producing silicon for next generation batteries by re-using waste streams. The project connects players across the entire battery value chain: material, chemistry/component, equipment manufacturing and scientific partners.

The role of Ferroglobe : to supply silicon, recycle SiO2, Si powder and up-scaling know how and support.

The role of E-magy: Developer and producer of nano-porous silicon material for batteries that overcomes the technical challenges related to the silicon volume expansion and resulting in 40% more energy density batteries. E-magy is the coordinator of the ESiLib consortium. Our nano-porous silicon is produced in our own, fully operational production facility near Amsterdam. The machinery covers 1200 square meters and operates at an industrial scale, can run 24/7 and is capable of producing up to 25 tons a year. We have designed the process to be easily scalable, with a capacity per line of 300 tons per year . We use an efficient silicon crystallization process with industry-standard post-processing steps.

On their site, E-magy shows a graph they will be able to produce “ … MULTI-THOUSAND TONS PRODUCTION of Nano porous  silicon within a couple of years  (... that really sounds like a lot to  me …)

E-magy , the EsiLib co-ordinator , seems a very solid company to me with great scientists / engineers, easily accessible  ( on their site you can ask for tours in their production facility, ask for samples of their nano porous silicon, open for any questions people may have etc.

Bernard, in summary as to how I understand it , E-magy gets the raw silicon input via Ferroglobe and use their own  magic (described on their site as an efficient silicon crystallization process with industry-standard post-processing steps)  to transform it into nano porous silicon.

My question for you: is all the work this European consortium is doing  an interesting development (where you perhaps already are aware of) and could there be an opportunity for HPQ  at some time to jump in here and perhaps create added value ? 

Thanks in advance.