Arkema becomes a shareholder of the start-up Tiamat, spun off from the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in 2017 and a pioneer in sodium-ion battery technology. The investment will enable the group to accelerate the development of technical solutions adapted to these batteries, which do not use lithium. The group is a key player in battery materials, offering a unique range of products adapted to all energy storage technologies.
As per the press release, since 2017, the start-up Tiamat has been designing, developing, industrializing and marketing sodium-ion batteries, a new lithium-free technology enabling in particular to avoid the constraints associated with the supply of this metal.
Alongside strategic investors such as Stellantis Ventures and MBDA, Arkema contributed to Tiamat’s recent €22 million fund-raising. Tiamat is aiming to build a 5 GWh giga-factory in France, entirely dedicated to the production of sodium-ion battery cells. An initial tranche of 0.7 GWh could be operational by the end of 2025.
Armand Ajdari, Arkema’s Chief Technology Officer commented, “Our portfolio of advanced materials enables us to provide solutions for all our customers’ battery technologies. The sodium-ion technology developed by Tiamat is very interesting, as it will enable to do away with the dependence to lithium and several strategic metals. This operation enriches our ecosystem, and is perfectly in line with Arkema’s strategy: innovative materials for a sustainable world”.
