Critical Resources makes solid-state battery manufacturing breakthrough

• Streamlined solid-state battery pathway success.
• Targeting high-density computing, data centres, defence aerospace.
• Complete composite layer built in one step.
• Builds battery layer by “printing” cathode material in a single room-temp pass.

Critical Resources (ASX:CRR) has achieved a manufacturing process breakthrough that has demonstrated a streamlined solid-state battery pathway.

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The company’s solid-state battery evaluation program has successfully completed the deposit of a cathode, electrolyte and conductive network layer in a single step – without the use of solvents, ovens, or furnaces.

Critical’s MD, Tim Wither, said this delivers the next step flagged in progressing from a validated solvent-free LFP cathode to a complete composite layer.

“Depositing solid electrolyte, cathode and a carbon-nanotube conductive network in a single step is a genuine milestone for our program,” he said.

“The hardest part of a solid-state battery is the join between the cathode and the electrolyte, and forming that join during manufacture – rather than pressing finished parts together afterwards – is exactly the kind of problem this technology is designed to solve.

“Doing it solvent-free, at room-temp, and with an advanced carbon-nanotube network built in, points to a cleaner and simpler way of making cells. Pairing this with our ASE electrolyte results means we are now making progress on both halves of the solid-state battery problem – the material and the manufacturing.”

The work was conducted at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology within the US National Science Foundation (NSF) supported Centre for Solid-State Electric Power Storage (CEPS) research program.

“This is early-stage laboratory work, not commercial manufacturing. Depositing a standalone electrolyte layer on its own is still in development, and we are working through it methodically. But the direction is very encouraging, and we will keep advancing it through a disciplined, capital-light evaluation approach with outstanding work from the South Dakota School of Mines team,” Mr Wither said.

Critical now plans to continue advancing the DSD program under the structured evaluation framework with CEPS and SDM. These activities are designed to strengthen the technical foundation of the company’s solid- state battery strategy without implying commercial manufacturing at this stage.

Key next steps include standalone electrolyte deposition, composite characterisation, electrochemical baseline testing, and process optimisation.

CRR is up +28.6% to 0.9¢. Mkt cap $22.35M.

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