August 8, 2024 - Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) is a nationally focused not-for-profit business accelerator focused on enabling Canada to become a global leader in sustainable chemistry. This is accomplished through BIC's mission to provide critical strategic investment, advice and services to business developers of clean, green and sustainable technologies, with a specific focus on the circular economy’s sustainable processes.
Since its inception in 2008, 32 BIC-supported companies have reduced CO2 emissions by one megaton, created more than 5,300 jobs and leveraged over $400 million in third-party investment.
At the core of BIC’s strategy is the Centre for Commercialization of Sustainable Chemistry Innovation (COMM SCI) that supports small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to remove barriers to and accelerate the commercialization of their technologies.
BIC has been able to support companies and accomplish some amazing results through its partnership and funding contributions received from the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), to support green, clean and sustainable technology companies, like e-Zinc, by providing strategic advice and services through COMM SCI.
e-Zinc’s Commercialization Hurdle
e-Zinc’s mission is to develop affordable, safe and reliable long-duration energy storage solutions for the world’s environments and most critical applications, using ubiquitous and recyclable materials. As an early-stage company, e-Zinc operates in a nascent sector which is looking to solve the challenges of the world’s energy transition.
Given the unique aspects of the company’s technology, e-Zinc fabricates many of its own components including its air cathode—the component that governs the discharge power density and lifetime of its system. While e-Zinc had the capability to fabricate this air cathode within a laboratory setting, its equipment and state of operations were not yet conducive for increased production; quality measures were not yet established, the ability to make full cells was limited, and cost projections beyond the initial bill of materials were yet to be completed.
Enter BIC and its COMM SCI project opportunity. BIC worked with e-Zinc through COMM SCI to build a pilot line for e-Zinc’s air cathode. This initiative allowed e-Zinc to validate the manufacturing, develop quality control measures, scale the production to full cell size, and develop representative cost projections.
Improving Operations through Technical Support
Although this pilot line may sound like a straightforward process, the uniqueness of the technology meant a process map for the pilot line needed to be developed, as did equipment requirements for each step in the process. At that point, quality control metrics needed to be developed to ensure production quality and consistency could be achieved.
Additionally, scale-up efforts to produce full size cathodes for the cells were undertaken. This involved modification of the process to produce bigger sheets and address a deficiency of the pre-pilot laboratory equipment.
With strategic technical support provided by BIC staff throughout the project and research and development collaborations with Lambton College, the pilot production line was developed, trialed and tested before further automation was pursued to increase efficiency, reduce production costs, and ensure consistent quality.
Project Success
This project successfully improved e-Zinc’s air cathode production capabilities, allowing e-Zinc to accelerate its commercialization and better understand the cost and manufacturing of its in-house proprietary process. As a result, the air cathodes were able to be produced at full cell length, which was not only a first for e-Zinc, but also a new technology development for the sector as a whole.
Additionally, quality control measures were developed and implemented that set standards for air cathode production for e-Zinc and future sector producers. This project was an important milestone in e-Zinc’s commercialization process and will be a key stepping stone in scaling up the production and the development of higher performing air cathodes.
For more information please contact:
Meaghan Seagrave Executive Director Bioindustrial Innovation Canada
Fiona McDonald Marketing and Communications Manager Bioindustrial Innovation Canada fmcdonald@bincanada.ca
About FedDev Ontario
For 15 years, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canada’s most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving productivity, growing revenues, creating jobs, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our investment profiles, our Southern Ontario Spotlight, and FedDev Ontario’s X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About e-Zinc
e-Zinc is a purpose-driven energy storage solutions company based in Toronto, Canada.. Its unique zinc-based long-duration energy storage technology is enabling a reliable transition away from fossil fuel powered energy sources and providing the platform for the world’s energy markets to be fully powered by renewable energy. By utilizing zinc as the base metal in its technology, e-Zinc delivers a product that holds energy for multiple days, and can safely and reliably perform in the world’s harshest environments. In addition, zinc is light on impact to the planet, readily available, and inexpensive because of its abundance, ubiquity and recyclability. www.e-zinc.ca.
About Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC)
Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) is a nationally focused not-for-profit business accelerator that provides critical strategic investment, advice, and services to business developers of clean, green, and sustainable technologies.
BIC focuses on critical strategic capital investment in SMEs with compelling business plans where innovation in science and engineering can bring about major advances in sustainable chemistry. Sustainable chemistry is playing an important role in the development of solutions to the impacts of climate change, peak oil, energy security, the need for safe water and the use of scarce natural resources. The increasing global demand for green and safer products offers the opportunity to create thousands of new jobs for Canadians.
For more information about Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC), visit www.bincanada.ca.
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