Business Concentrates ENERGY STORAGE
Relief from Brexit headache will be short
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UK chemistry enterprise’s worst fears avoided, for now due to the imposition of additional cusTo the relief of the chemistry enterprise, toms checks on chemicals. the date that Britain exits—or Brexits— “All politicians now need to show collecthe European Union has been delayed tive responsibility—a quality that has been from April 12 until Oct. 31 to give both parties more time to come to basic divorce sadly lacking—to lead and deliver a solution for our country that helps boost busiterms. But for parties that have proved ness confidence and greater investment in poor negotiators, that’s not very long. Until the EU agreed on April 10 to delay the UK,” the CIA says. Steve Bates, CEO of the date of Brexit, conthe UK BioIndustry Ascern had been mounting sociation, is also calling that the UK would leave A no-deal Brexit would harm on politicians to strike a without any agreement EU-UK trade. deal as soon as possible. on trade and regulation. ▸ 60% of UK chemical exports, “No-deal Brexit would Such a scenario, dubbed mean the biggest disina no-deal Brexit, would worth more than £30 billion ($39 billion) annually, go to the EU. tegration of the complex almost certainly lead ▸ 75% of UK chemical imports regulated medicines to major cross-border market across Europe come from the EU. trade disruption. A no▸ 45 million doses of medicines in terms of regulation, deal Brexit would also cross-border movement move from the UK to the EU every harm scientific research of goods, comparative month, and 37 million go the other by cutting funding and pricing, and intellectual way. restricting the moveproperty,” Bates says. ment of scientists beSources: Chemical Industries Association, Avoiding a no-deal tween the EU and UK. BioIndustry Association. Brexit is also a priority Although now less for research organizations. “If the UK likely, a no-deal Brexit could still happen. The UK chemical industry is calling on UK leaves the EU without a deal, it will impact politicians to ensure that terms are settled on scientific research immediately and could take years to rebuild,” says the Royal well before Oct. 31. “For chemical companies that means securing as quickly as pos- Society, an independent UK science body. Once basic divorce terms have been set, sible a deal that avoids tariff and non-tariff the EU and UK will have up to 2 years to barriers; provides regulatory continuity determine specific policies, such as how and ensures continued access to skilled respective chemical regulations would people,” says the Chemical Industries Asbe recognized and the role UK scientists sociation (CIA), a UK industry group. might play in EU-funded collaborative sciAmong the CIA’s greatest fears about a ence projects.—ALEX SCOTT no-deal Brexit are major delays at borders
Exposed to Brexit
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The number of companies and other organizations worldwide with technology to dissolve and purify, depolymerize, or chemically convert waste plastics into renewed raw materials, according to a report by Closed Loop Partners, which manages investments in recycling and waste reduction. Closed Loop says the addressable market for materials from recovered plastic waste is as high as $120 billion per year.
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | APRIL 22, 2019
Sila wins backing for silicon anodes Sila Nanotechnologies, a California-based battery material start-up, has raised $170 million in a fourth round of funding, led by the automaker Daimler, to advance its technology for battery anodes made with silicon. Sila launched in 2011 and has now brought in $295 million from investors. Lithium-ion battery anodes are typically made of graphite. Incorporating silicon has the potential to improve energy density by 20–40%, experts say. But silicon anodes can swell to more than three times their size during charging because
Sila production equipment for anode materials of absorption of lithium ions. Sila says its porous anode composite gets around that problem. Demonstrations of the material show it boosts battery density by 20%. “We’ve cracked the code on silicon thanks to eight years and 35,000 iterations developing our materials to improve battery storage capacity,” Sila CEO Gene Berdichevsky says. Other companies targeting the anode include silicon maker Wacker Chemie, the UK start-up Nexeon, and US battery firm Amprius. It’s a crowded space, says Christopher Robinson, analyst at Lux Research. “One hurdle is likely keeping production costs low enough.” Sila’s new funds will help it scale up production, first to serve customers in consumer electronics. It is also working with Daimler and BMW to enter the electric vehicle battery market. —MELODY
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