NONCONSUMABLE | NONFLAMMABLE | NONCOMBUSTIBLE

HIGH ENERGY-DENSITY NANOELECTROFUEL

Using perfectly suspended nanoparticles in a water-based fluid, Influit Energy has created high-performance liquid fuel battery systems that will become the new standard for large battery applications with the same performance as Li-ion systems at a lower cost.

HOW INFLUIT DOES IT

Our breakthrough is creating a nanoelectrofuel that has low viscosity and won’t settle. Creating a nanofluid out of battery material is relatively straightforward. However, no one else has ever discovered how to make an energy-storing nanofluid that is both low viscosity (it actually flows) and that doesn’t settle (never agglomerating if left alone).

THE PROBLEM WITH TRADITIONAL FLOW BATTERIES?

They aren’t as energy dense as solid batteries. Why? Because of specific gravity only so much battery material (ionic salts) can be dissolved in a liquid. Once this natural limit is reached, any additional energy storage salt will sit at the bottom of the battery undissolved and inaccessible to the battery system.

LONG-LASTING, NANOFLUIDS WITH THE VISCOSITY OF MOTOR OIL

Unlike other flow batteries, Influit does not dissolve anything. Rather we suspend battery nanoparticles in a base fluid. They never settle and are completely unsupported. Influit makes its particles so small that Brownian motion–the random motion of particles suspended in a liquid–is a dominant force counteracting gravity.

PROPRIETARY SURFACE MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES

Influit surface-modifies its nanoparticles to give them proprietary chemical and physical properties that prevent agglomeration and decrease viscosity. Van der Waal’s forces do not dominate the suspension because of these surface modifications.

Nanoelectrofuel's Foundational Design

NEF is not a new chemistry, but a new format or new way of storing and distributing electrical energy. We have drop-in replacement battery form factors (imagine a 6T size, but NEF inside) and we have a refueling/recharging unit to create a closed-loop, energy distribution ecosystem (the charged NEF is pumped into a vehicle while discharged NEF is pumped out to be recharged). Our systems are highly flexible and modular, and they are built to suit terrestrial, aerospace, and maritime applications based on these inputs: voltage, current, desired energy storage capacity, and available system space.

MOBILE PLATFORM

Voltage is a function of size and number of cells in stack

Energy storage capacity is a function of nanoelectrofuel tank size

REFUELING APPARATUS

Speed of refueling is a function of pump size

RECHARGING PLATFORM

Voltage is a function of size and number of cells in stack

Energy storage capacity is a function of nanoelectrofuel tank size

Speed of recharge is a function of electrode size (surface area) and membrane

NEF-technology-Block-diagram not titles-01.png

Influit Energy is not building a battery. We are building a rechargeable electric fuel. We are building the energy extraction devices to extract energy from that fuel. And we are building the refinery to manufacture that fuel. All under one umbrella. We have secured over $12M in non-dilutive federal research grants and defense contracts to advance the basic science and transition our novel energy platform for both commercial and defense applications.

WE ARE BUILDING BATTERIES TODAY

High energy-density flow batteries using nanoparticles are not theoretical. We’re working with them in the lab every day. Influit Energy does this with abundant, inexpensive materials. Instead of exotic rare earth minerals and dangerous heavy metals, Influit builds its batteries with simple, inexpensive materials widely available in the US.

High energy density NEF flow batteries have massive advantages over traditional batteries.

Rapid refueling of low viscosity nanoelectrofuel; no range limitations
Decouples power from energy storage; flexibility and scalability or designs
Co-locating power and energy; no long cables, reduces EMI
Shape conformal energy storage
Thermal management by active electrolyte
No fire/explosion hazard; nonflammable, non-combustible
Separate processes for nanofluid/stack manufacturing

LESS THAN 1/2 THE COST

The cost of raw materials in an Influit battery is about 1/2 the cost of the materials in a similar Lithium-ion battery.

SUPERIOR SUPPLY CHAIN

No more Lithium pit mines in countries that don’t like the United States. Influit batteries will have the most environmentally friendly and secure battery supply chain in the world.

SAFER FOR USERS

Influit batteries don’t ignite when they encounter air or water. They are much, much safer, making them more suitable to aviation and military applications.

Influit's Cell/Stack Design is Extremely Flexible

Using a parametric design for our cells, we can automate the cell and stack design utilizing a number of different geometries that best suit the application
NEF systems are highly adaptive and work to utilize the available space in a platform.
Separating energy storage from power allows for application to be optimized based both on the required voltage and power AND the desired energy storage capacity.

Isn’t the flow battery system more mechanically complex than the incumbent solution and thus subject to higher maintenance costs and increased down time?

Redox flow batteries with traditional electrolytes have been successfully commercialized and implemented at large scale energy storage. They have a proven record of safety and reliable operations. The mechanical aspects draw on well established and industrial grade components that far exceed the charge cycles vs mechanical duty cycles. We draw on successes of those installations and innovate the space with our advance electrolyte formulations. The incumbent systems (Li-ion batteries) have failure modes whose solutions are more complex to address, like dendrite growth, thermal runaway, as well as oxygen free manufacturing.
Isn’t charging infrastructure likely to be different for these batteries, requiring investment in new charging equipment by the customer?"

The rapid refueling pods utilizing renewable energy storage will be offered as an improvement for refueling in under 5 minutes. NEF battery can also utilize existing e-charging stations to plug into and re-charge NEF fuel that is already in the car. The battery control system (BCS) is designed to not only control the pumps and performance envelope, but the overall system is no different than any other rechargeable battery system, one simply plugs the BCS into any charging outlet.
How does this technology compare with other emerging solutions for this application, including Liion batteries and fuel cells?"

NEF Gen1 system will be 23% greater energy density for the same system volume than Li-ion at ½ the cost. Gen2 will be 5X increase at system level over Li-ion and 1/3 the cost.
Won’t the agglomeration of the colloidal particles block the manifold and flow channels?

The nanoparticles used in our battery use proprietary surface modification to prevent agglomeration of nanoparticles. This approach also significantly reduces viscosity of suspensions at high solid loadings and prevents fouling.
Isn’t solid/liquid/solid three phase reaction much worse than gasoline/liquid/solid three-phase reaction region because of mass transport limitations?

This is a misnomer that the reaction is a three-phase transition system, it is a two-phase system with nanoparticles simply using the base fluid as its physical bulk transport. Therefore the mass transport of reactants is located at the physical contact of the electrode and a traditional ionic transport across the membrane.
Isn’t this technology far from commercialization?

We have business engagements with the DOD, NASA, and piloting the tech with one of the largest industrial EUV manufacturers in the world.
What are your estimates of the energy densities of the fluids?

350-550 Wh/L is volumetric energy density for Gen1 battery at the system level. 550-750 Wh/kg is the system mass energy density for Gen2 chemistry.
Can Influit demonstrate preparation of nanoparticle suspensions with high solids concentrations and manageable flow properties?

To date we have achieved the appropriate particle loadings and viscosity to pump, charge, and discharge the anolytes and catholytes with under 2% parasitic losses.
Can Influit identify the right surface treatment technique to obtain suspension with high solids concentration with manageable flow properties?

We have developed proprietary manufacturing methods for obtaining the correct surface modifications in a scalable process using 500L batch reactor systems.
Is the time and level of funding proposed sufficient to complete the project?

We are at the point of needing outside investment to expand the effort beyond line-item government grants. To date we have secured over $8M in direct non-dilutive funding from our sponsoring agencies for the development of different aspects of this technology.
The energy density and efficiency of metal oxides is low. Why not use potent materials from other battery technologies such as Lithium-ion?

We have done technoeconomic analysis of different materials for NEF technology. To achieve high voltage of Li-ion batteries a non-aqueous electrolyte is required, which is flammable, air sensitive and expensive. Selected metal oxides can operate in aqueous electrolytes and the energy density of the cathode and anode materials selected for Gen 1 is sufficient to surpass volumetric energy density of Li-ion batteries by 23%. This is achieved by using high solid loadings of nanoparticles and high current density stacks. Metal oxides used in Gen 1 are significantly cheaper than Li-ion battery material costs, while aqueous electrolyte and flow format offers additional safety and reliability.
What happens if the battery is punctured and the nanofluids mix.

Here are the results of a simple puncture test. When the anolyte and catholyte mix, the temperature elevates slightly and then returns to ambient. There is no exhaustive gases, explosions, or flames.