Singapore company introduces new battery made from sustainable, safe materials with production costs only about 10% of lithium-ion batteries.
Flint, a Singaporean company that develops sustainable energy solutions, has made a splash in the battery technology space with its innovative paper battery, which promises to offer impressive benefits over traditional energy storage solutions. Flint showcased its pioneering technology at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, USA, from January 7 to 10.
Flint’s paper battery is a semi-solid-state battery that uses a ring of hydrogel to serve as both the separator and electrolyte in a sheet of paper. The design differs from conventional lithium-ion batteries by replacing toxic and geopolitically sensitive materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel with safer, more sustainable options like zinc and manganese.
According to the company, the new battery is lightweight, flexible and adaptable in shape, which not only makes it safer but also significantly lower in cost than traditional lithium-ion batteries. The hydrogel-based design helps it completely decompose within 6 weeks when buried underground, leaving no toxic waste. This makes the paper battery more sustainable than traditional batteries, which can take decades to decompose and pose a major environmental risk.
Additionally, while lithium-ion batteries are at risk of leakage and explosion, paper batteries have been rigorously tested to withstand fire, cuts, punctures, and bending. These tests confirm the battery’s ability to operate safely.
In terms of energy efficiency, each paper battery provides 600 mAh of power, which is enough for many consumer and industrial applications. Currently, its energy efficiency is still lower than that of lithium-ion batteries, but Flint is working to improve it. The company believes that paper batteries can be used in a wide range of areas, from consumer electronics to industry.
The versatility of the paper battery, combined with Flint’s focus on cost efficiency, makes it an attractive alternative to traditional batteries. Paper batteries currently cost about 10% of the cost of lithium-ion batteries, but the company is working to scale up production to further reduce costs and make them more affordable.
Flint plans to set up a pilot manufacturing facility in Singapore, with additional facilities in China, India, the US and Vietnam in the future. The company aims to have its first commercial-scale paper batteries rolling off the production line by the end of the year.