Kodak Invests in a super cell battery maker with 90% higher energy density

Date: 21/07/2022
Eastman Kodak has acquired a minority stake in a new company called Wildcat Discovery Technologies (Wildcat) which is into development of new battery materials in making a super battery cell for electric vehicle with 500 Wh/kg energy density, a 90 percent improvement in energy density compared to today's best batteries. The other features include, it's a cobalt free nickel free battery with More than thousand charge/discharge cycles with solid-state electrolyte.

Kodak’s investment will allow Wildcat to develop its new technology, based super cell battery ready for commercialization in two years. Along with investment,Kodak to provide coating and engineering services to Wildcat in developing and scaling film coating technologies, a critical process need for the safety and reliability of the next generation of EV battery technology. Kodak is already using its pilot coating facility to coat materials on substrates for EV/energy storage batteries and fuel cells to its base of customers.

Kodak said it is expanding the capacity and capability of this pilot facility with a new small-scale coating machine that will be fully operational in early 2023. Kodak has also announced it has repurposed a full-scale production coating machine to manufacture coated substrates for cathode and anode assembly in the EV/energy storage battery market. Kodak said it has begun providing coated material to a battery manufacturer and is in the process of ramping production levels, the maximum capacity of which is up to 80 million square meters per year.

Wildcat has granted Kodak certain rights to negotiate a production or licensing arrangement with Wildcat when and if Wildcat’s technology reaches commercial readiness.

Kodak said its investment represents the continued expansion of our Advanced Materials & Chemicals group as we capitalize on our expertise in coating technology, developed over decades of film manufacturing, to pursue opportunities in the growing battery market.

"This investment in Wildcat reflects Kodak’s commitment to building new businesses by leveraging our existing skills and infrastructure. Coating substrates is a critical aspect of manufacturing batteries and no one is better at coating than Kodak," said Jim Continenza, Kodak's Executive Chairman and CEO. "We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with an innovator like Wildcat to provide more powerful, safer solutions for applications such as energy storage and EV batteries and participate in this rapidly growing market."

Author: Srinivasa Reddy N
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