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Battery Innovation Center Adds A New Member

Last updated on Friday, August 21, 2015

(CRANE) - The Battery Innovation Center (BIC) is announcing a new member from the nanomaterials industry, Black Diamond Structures.

The Austin, Texas-based company has unique carbon nanotube technology (CNT) that, when used in batteries, has the potential to significantly enhance their performance -- a breakthrough with big implications for the energy storage industry.

For the last eight months, the BIC and Black Diamond Structures have worked together to progress the development of this nanomaterial technology for the energy storage market.

"Batteries relying on this nanomaterial technology provide the basis for the sort of disruptive technological breakthrough that the battery industry has been seeking," said Ashley Gordon, the BIC's principle cell manufacturing engineer. "Their energy and power density properties will ultimately yield longer-lasting and higher-performing batteries for consumers. Until now, these nanomaterials only held great promise in laboratory settings. Now we are helping prove that the technology is able to be used in battery designs to significantly enhance product performance."

Black Diamond Structure's proprietary nanomaterial products are based on its subsidiary, Molecular Rebar Design's, revolutionary CNT technology, MOLECULAR REBAR, which are discrete, open-ended, and highly functionalized CNTs that are free from catalysts and waste matter.

Nanomaterials are the focus of a materials science-based approach to leveraging advances in the measurement and synthesis of materials, the result of which is often materials with unique optical, electronic, or mechanical properties. Carbon nanotubes are tubular cylinders of carbon atoms with such exceptional properties. This scientific breakthrough unlocks the true potential of nanotubes for a variety of applications and industries, including batteries, coatings, and paint.

Black Diamond Structures approached the BIC because of the facility's assets, capabilities, and equipment that are unique to the industry.

"In order to rapidly and effectively progress the development of our nanomaterial technology, we needed a collaborative approach and access to a wide range of battery development capability," said Dru Kefalos, chief marketing officer at Black Diamond Structures. "The BIC's approach to innovation provided that path for us and gave us access to resources that give us a strong foundation for our technology as we move toward commercialization."

For BIC, Black Diamond Structures represents another of a growing membership of technology startups that are being served.

"One of the key prongs of the BIC's mission is to work with smaller technology companies to help them validate their technology and reach the point where they are ripe for product commercialization, licensing, or larger investment," stated David Roberts, president of the BIC. "Black Diamond Structure's membership is a reflection of the meaningful value that we are able to add to an emerging company's business case, and ultimately facilitates business development locally and nationally in the energy industry."

The Battery Innovation Center (BIC) is a unique public-private partnership and not-for-profit organization that incorporates leadership from world-class universities, commercial enterprises, and government organizations to focus on the rapid development, testing and commercialization of safe, reliable and lighter weight energy storage systems for commercial and defense organizations. Located adjacent to Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, the BIC provides both a virtual collaborative network of capabilities needed for development of next generation energy storage solutions as well as a new, state-of-the-art $15.6 million energy research lab. For more information, visit www.bicindiana.com.

Black Diamond Structures, LLC is a developer and manufacturer of innovative nanomaterial products and solutions. Created in 2015 as joint venture between Molecular Rebar Design, a leading nanomaterial innovator, and SABIC, the world's second largest diversified chemical company, Black Diamond Structures is taking nanomaterial technology to a new level.

Our products are based on Molecular Rebar Design's revolutionary carbon nanotube (CNT) technology, MOLECULAR REBAR. MOLECULAR REBAR are discrete, open ended, and highly functionalized CNTs that are free from catalysts and waste matter. The technology significantly advances the science for nanomaterials and provides opportunities for development and commercialization of innovative new materials to be used in a wide variety of products and market segments. Together, with SABIC's commercial and manufacturing capabilities and Molecular Rebar Design's advanced nanotechnology, Black Diamond Structures, LLC is unleashing the power of nanomaterials to improve the world we live in.

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