PRESS RELEASE
Archer Exploration Limited, an Australian advanced materials company and UNSW, a University ranking as one of the top 3% globally in Engineering and Technology1, have announce the signing of a Collaboration Agreement and Research Service Agreement.
The new partnership is aimed at developing and implementing Archer’s graphite and graphene materials for use in energy storage system applications, targeting lithium-ion batteries and potentially generating technologies and patents that have commercial applications in reliable energy.
The new research directly aligns with Archer’s vision of developing and integrating advanced materials, specifically in the focus area of reliable energy for the betterment of society. Commenting on the new agreements, Archer Exploration CEO, Dr Mohammad Choucair added:
“Archer now enjoys a unique relationship with UNSW and facilities within the University including those in the Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre. This Centre, unique in its diversity in Australia, comprises AUD$100 million of state-of-the-art characterisation equipment, managed by over 80 instrument scientists ready to engage and drive research projects within Archer.
“The Centre has a broad range of capabilities that fulfil our aims to participate in the integration of advanced materials in battery technologies that will provide future opportunities and new markets to underpin the development of Archer’s substantial graphite resources.”
The global lithium-ion battery market is forecast to increase to US$130 billion by 20282 with growth concentrated in the Asia Pacific region. Lithium-ion battery devices service a number of growing market segments where high-power density and long life-times are required at ambient and near-ambient conditions:
- Transportation and mobility (electric vehicles)
- Mobile devices and computing
- Intermittent renewable energy sources
The primary focus of the collaboration is on the rational design of high-performance electrodes for lithium-ion batteries using graphite and graphene sourced from Archer’s Campoona deposit. This work is expected to result in the development of electrodes for lithium-ion batteries and the implementation of these electrodes in a number of advanced application full-cell and half-cell configurations.
The graphite and graphene-based materials developed would be tailored electronically, chemically and structurally for mobile and stationary device applications with specific performance requirements
