• Silicon Anode Technology Advancement with Extended Capacity Performance & Sustained Low-Cost Advantage
  • Record-High Battery Performance Metric that Meets or Exceeds Industry Standards and Similar Commercial Products
  • Two-Way Coating Enhancement: Simple, Feasible, and Low-Cost
• Planned Release of New Silicon-Carbon (Si-C) Anode Product Due to High Working Party & Industry Demand
• Recycled Silicon Evaluation In-Progress with Lotus Energy & INNOX eco-M Products
• South Korea Ministry of Science & ICT Certification as Recognized Corporate Research Institute

TORONTO, Aug. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (TSXV: NBM) (OTC: NBMFF) NEO Battery Materials Ltd. (“NEO” or the “Company”), a low-cost silicon anode materials developer that enables longer-running, rapid-charging lithium-ion batteries, is pleased to announce technological advancements in the Company’s silicon anode technology – longer battery capacity retention while sustaining low costs.

NEO’s engineering team successfully modified the properties of existing additives to achieve the two-way coating enhancements. The new coating methods are simple yet feasible and employ widely-used additives to maintain low manufacturing costs. Implementation improves critical battery cell performance metrics – i) longer capacity retention, ii) higher, steady Coulombic efficiency¹ (a measure of capacity retention), and iii) faster-charging rates.

Coulombic efficiency¹ is the foremost metric that determines capacity retention in battery cycling tests. NEO’s silicon anode, NBMSiDE^®, demonstrated record-high Coulombic efficiency levels that meet or exceed industry standards and similar commercial products. This result demonstrates the product’s potency in full cell² designs based on pure 100% silicon or silicon-graphite mixture anodes. With optimism in advancements, NEO is reproducing and optimizing the product for the subsequent phases of NBMSiDE^® commercialization.

Mr. Spencer Huh, Director, President and CEO of NEO, commented, “We are highly proud of NEO’s engineering team and enthusiastic about the results achieved with our NBMSiDE^® products. Incremental improvements are leading to performance milestones. This year, we plan to reach new technology highs with silicon-graphite anodes and in full cells. Additionally, our team has initiated recycled silicon evaluations with Lotus Energy and INNOX eco-M products.”

The two-way coating enhancement also enables NBMSiDE^® to be compatible with carbon-based (carbonaceous) materials. This implies that silicon-carbon composite (Si-C) and silicon-graphite anode development are now feasible for full cell designs. Due to mounting working partner and industry demand, NEO Battery Materials will release a new Si-C anode product into the NBMSiDE^® portfolio, with sample tests to be conducted soon.

Two-Way Coating Enhancement: Technical Details

The first coating enhancement extensively utilizes the advantages of polymer characteristics to maximize the polymer coating processibility. This further stabilizes the silicon surface during volume expansion in battery cycling tests. Intensely prohibiting adverse side reactions (i.e., irreversible lithium consumption) on the silicon surface also suppresses anode delamination from the current collector. As a result, battery cell performance is directly improved with enhanced Coulombic efficiency and rate capability levels with reasonable overall specific capacity.

The second coating enhancement deploys additional protective layers on the silicon surface. Like the first enhancement, the additional layers suppress adverse side reactions in which lithium-ions are consumed on the silicon surface. The layers also add mechanical strength to hamper rapid anode delamination. This coating method has exhibited increased Coulombic efficiencies with prolonged capacity retention.

R&D Scale-Up Centre: Government-Certified Corporate Research Institute

In July, the South Korean Ministry of Science, Information, and Communication Technology (MSIT), through the Korean Industrial Technology Association (KOITA), has certified NEO’s R&D Scale-Up Centre as a recognized “Corporate Research Institute”.

Along with the Venture Enterprise Certification, this governmental certification enables NBM Korea to receive various governmental support, including benefits in national R&D projects, intellectual property rights programs, and government grants and funding. This certification will help nurture a highly effective environment for R&D and commercialization.

¹Coulombic Efficiency: Ratio of electrons transferred out from an electrode material/battery during discharging to the number transferred into the material during charging over a full charging cycle (Discharging Capacity-to-Charging Capacity). Ex. If the current discharging capacity is 2,000 mAh/g and the preceding charging capacity was 2,500 mAh/g, the Coulombic efficiency is 80%.

²Full Cell: Lithium-ion battery comprises all four core materials (cathode, anode, separator, and electrolyte). Generally, battery anode materials proof-of-concept and optimization are initiated with half cells in which only the anode, separator, and electrolyte are used with a lithium-metal counter electrode that may supply an infinite number of lithium-ions. Full cells have a limited number of lithium-ions given that commercial-level cathode materials retain trivial amounts of lithium-ions compared to lithium-metal. Consequently, capacity retention is heavily affected by Coulombic efficiency at every charging cycle.

About NEO Battery Materials Ltd.
NEO Battery Materials is a Canadian battery materials technology company focused on developing silicon anode materials for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, electronics, and energy storage systems. With a patent-protected, low-cost manufacturing process, NEO Battery enables longer-running and ultra-fast charging batteries compared to existing state-of-the-art technologies. The Company aims to be a globally-leading producer of silicon anode materials for the electric vehicle and energy storage industries. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at: https://www.neobatterymaterials.com/.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Spencer Huh
Director, President, and CEO

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This news release includes certain forward-looking statements as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. All information contained herein that is not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. Generally, such forward-looking information can be identified notably, but not limited to, by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects," or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved", and similar words referring to future events and results. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: (i) volatile stock prices; (ii) the general global markets and economic conditions; (iii) the possibility of write-downs and impairments; (iv) the risk associated with the research and development of advanced technologies; (v) the risk associated with the effectiveness and feasibility of technologies that have not yet been tested or proven on commercial scale; (vi) the risks associated with entering into joint ventures, collaboration agreements, joint development agreements, and similar commercial agreements; (vii) fluctuations in input precursor prices; (viii) the risks associated with uninsurable risks arising during the course of research, development and production; (ix) competition faced by the resulting issuer in securing experienced personnel and financing; (x) access to adequate infrastructure to support battery materials research and development activities; (xi) the risks associated with changes in the technology regulatory regime governing the Company; (xii) the risks associated with the various environmental regulations the Company is subject to; (xiii) risks related to regulatory and permitting delays; (xiv) the reliance on key personnel; (xv) liquidity risks; (xvi) the risk of litigation; and (xvii) risk management, as described in more detail in our recent securities filings available at www.sedarplus.com. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made, including but not limited to, continued research and development activities, no material adverse change in precursor prices and development plans to proceed in accordance with plans and such plans to achieve their stated expected outcomes, receipt of required regulatory approvals, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information has been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's business, operations, research and development, and commercialization plans and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. We assume no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.

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