Where energy per gram decides the mission

Who buys energy density

Most of the battery market buys cost per kilowatt-hour. A smaller market buys energy per gram and per litre, because for them it is mission time, range or payload. Uncrewed aircraft, soldier-worn equipment, undersea vehicles and high-altitude platforms all sit in that market, and all of them are moving toward lithium-metal cells. An anode-free cell is the lightest way to build one, and the substrate that makes it work is what Alkalinth supplies.

Uncrewed aircraft

For a drone, every gram of anode that is not there is flight time or payload. Anode-free cells built on a lithiophilic copper substrate carry no graphite and no excess lithium. Drone makers in the United States also face a sourcing problem: the great majority of the cells they fly today come from one country, and the rules on where defence-bound cells and their materials may come from are tightening. A substrate made in Massachusetts, qualified by a US cell maker, is a direct answer.

Soldier-worn and portable power

Soldier systems are measured by what a person can carry. Removing the graphite anode takes mass out of the cell without touching the cathode chemistry the programme has already qualified, which is why a drop-in substrate is attractive to the cell makers serving that market.

Undersea vehicles

Autonomous undersea vehicles are limited by the energy their hull can hold. Lithium-metal cells raise energy per litre; the engineering questions are safety certification and cycle life, both of which depend on how evenly lithium plates. Our substrate promotes even, dendrite-resistant plating, and we work with cell makers who build to the relevant certification regimes.

Domestic-content rules, in general terms

Two US rules are changing how batteries for defence and public programmes are sourced. The FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act bars the Department of Defense from buying batteries produced by a named list of Chinese manufacturers from October 2027. Separately, Department of Energy guidance defines "foreign entities of concern" for programmes that fund domestic battery supply chains. How a US-made current collector counts toward each rule is a question for the cell maker and its customer, and the answer depends on the programme. What a US-made substrate offers in every case is one more component whose origin is not in doubt.

How we work with you

We do not make cells. We supply the substrate to cell makers, to cathode and electrolyte developers who need a counter-electrode for their own demonstrations, and, through the cell maker, to the integrators and end users who set the requirements. The first step is an evaluation at your conditions; the second is a conversation about formats and volumes. Write to info@alkalinth.com.