Sacramento-based LiCAP Technologies Inc. has entered a deal with solid-state battery company Sakuu to develop a new generation of 3D-printed batteries.
San Jose-based Sakuu makes high-energy density batteries that can be made into custom shapes because they are built through additive manufacturing, which is basically 3D-printing of layers of material.
“We are extremely impressed with Sakuu’s additive manufacturing battery manufacturing concept and see many synergies with our sustainable and cost-effective electrode platform,” said Linda Zhong, president of LiCAP Technologies, in a news release.
Sakuu and LiCap's combined technology can be applied to many things, said Pal Hollywood, a spokeswoman for Sakuu. The first batteries will likely be developed for electric scooters and bikes, and then eventually move from two-wheeled to four-wheeled transportation.
LiCAP has developed a dry technology to make electrodes for lithium-ion batteries in a process that doesn’t produce toxic materials and uses less energy than the current standard wet production process. Electrodes are vital components of batteries. They make contact with nonmetallic parts of the battery circuit.
The additive materials process allows for greater design flexibility because it allows the batteries to be made into specific shapes, rather than having to be a standard battery pack shape, Hollywood said.
LiCAP was the overall winner this month for the Innovation of the Year in the Business Journal's Sacramento Region Innovation Awards, picked by a panel of local innovation leaders and Business Journal staff.
In October, Sakuu opened a 79,000-square-foot engineering hub in San Jose. That facility is meant to help the company engineer and fine-tune its scaling of 3D-printing battery technology.
LiCAP was founded in Sacramento in 2016. It now has more than 40 employees here and 150 worldwide.
The company has produced supercapacitors that are deployed in wind turbines globally to replace lead acid batteries. Since 2019, LiCAP has developed a manufacturing line in Sacramento to produce lithium-battery electrodes using its proprietary Activated Dry Electrode method.
