alpha-En Corporation Awarded Competitive Grant from the National Science Foundation

YONKERS, N.Y., Dec. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- alpha-En Corporation has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $255,737 to conduct research and development (R&D) work to advance a low-cost lithium metal thin film coating technology to produce anodes to advance the next generation batteries in commercial quantities. 

"NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering," said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. "With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs."

Vedasri Vedharathinam, the projects Principal Investigator remarked, "The implementation of alpha-En's flow assisted electrodeposition technology is an innovative solution for high purity lithium metal thin film anodes (< 30 micron) on any conductive substrate with minimal energy consumption and no environmental impact. The Phase I grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) validates our approach as we work to advance our research and commercialize our breakthrough technology."

Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $256,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II grant (up to $1,000,000). Small businesses with Phase II grants are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investment or sales.

Startups or entrepreneurs who submit a three-page Project Pitch will know within three weeks if they meet the program's objectives to support innovative technologies that show promise of commercial and/or societal impact and involve a level of technical risk. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions, and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America's Seed Fund powered by NSF, undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. To learn more about America's Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/

About the National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs: America's Seed Fund powered by NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $1.75 million to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America's Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.

About alpha-En Corporation
alpha-En Corporation (ALPE) is an innovative clean technology company focused on enabling next generation battery technologies by developing and bringing to market pure, state of the art materials produced in an environmentally sustainable manner. With issued and pending patents, alpha-En has developed a room temperature technology to produce high-purity lithium metal anodes via electrolytic deposition from aqueous feedstocks, without the use or emission of toxic/hazardous products (mercury/chlorine). Our goal is to support the energy demands of the growing secondary battery market by commercial production of high capacity lithium metal anodes.

CONTACT: Thomas Suppanz, CFO  
tsuppanz@alpha-encorp.com  
(914)418-2000

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SOURCE alpha-En Corporation