Focus Graphite Advanced Materials, which is developing high-grade flake graphite deposits and graphite materials, has announced that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has allowed its Canadian patent application for battery anode materials.
Patent No. 3,209,696, entitled Advanced Anode Materials Comprising Spheroidal Additive-Enhanced Graphite Particles and Process for Making Same, covers proprietary processes and compositions for silicon-enhanced, spheroidal graphite particles. These are designed to improve performance characteristics critical to lithium-ion battery anodes, including energy density, charge efficiency and cycling stability, Focus said, by incorporating silicon within the graphite particle architecture while leveraging graphite’s structural stability and conductivity.
By distributing silicon within the graphite structure, the technology is intended to address two challenges associated with silicon-enhanced anodes: charge-induced volume expansion and solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) instability.
Embedding silicon within a graphite matrix is expected to help buffer volumetric expansion during cycling, supporting improved mechanical integrity, while the surrounding graphite structure can reduce direct silicon–electrolyte interactions, which Focus said contribute to enhanced cycling stability and battery longevity.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has completed its examination and determined that the Patent claims meet all Canadian requirements for patentability, including novelty and inventiveness.
Subject to the completion of final administrative steps, the Patent is expected to proceed to formal grant.
“The allowance of this Patent represents the culmination of years of focused research and development. The underlying technology was shaped under the guidance of Dr. Joseph Doninger, whose deep technical insight and commitment to innovation were instrumental to its success, and we are grateful for the work he contributed,” said Dean Hanisch, Chief Executive Officer of Focus Graphite. “With the Patent now allowed, we are well positioned to move forward with broader testing and advancement of this technology as part of our downstream strategy.”
Source: Focus Graphite Advanced Materials
