10086635Sustainable HF-Free Fluorinations for a UK-Based Li-ion Battery Electrolyte Supply Chain (SUS-FLUOR-BAT)ClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKIn a century of global geopolitical and environmental challenges, the need for disruptive technologies that can decarbonize industrial processes and create localized supply chains is ever-increasing. Addressing this call, this project targets the energy sector, specifically by enabling the development of a UK-based electrolyte supply chain built upon novel chemical technologies initially developed in the world-renowned labs of V. Gouverneur FRS at the University of Oxford and now in commercial development at its spin-out FluoRok. Electrolytes in Li-ion batteries are dominated by fluorinated compounds and like all fluorochemicals, their synthesis is entirely based on a centuries-old chemical process involving highly toxic, hazardous and difficult-to-handle hydrogen fluoride (HF). FluoRok's novel and disruptive proprietary technology changes this paradigm allowing for the first time to bypass HF production and directly manufacture fluorinated materials from raw minerals (fluorite, CaF2) or fluorinated waste streams, both of which could be supplied locally (UK or close EU partners). This project will leverage this technology for the safer, and lower cost manufacturing of high-value specialty components in Li-ion batteries - LiPF6 ($3-5Bn market, CAGR of \>15%), which represent between 6-8% of the total cell cost. Accordingly, this project has the potential to be a significant accelerator towards cost parity of electric vs Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) based transportation. Through exploitation of our technology, we will enable vastly improved manufacturing cost, lower carbon emissions and introduce for the first time a cyclic economy for fluorochemicals via the use of waste fluoride sources. Alongside the significant safety benefits of executing our technology on scale, notable barriers such as high capital expenditure, environmental protections, and excessive controls of hazard operations are equally circumvented. With this project, FluoRok will enable the UK economy to compete on the global stage for the manufacture of Li-ion battery components and build a UK based supply chain for a key area of the battery industry.