Energy and batteries
How much a battery holds and how fast it charges depends on what happens at the surface of its materials, at the scale of nanometers. Engineering that scale is how silicon, new solar materials and better catalysts are reaching cars, phones and the grid.
5 technologies tracked here, by how far each has got.
From lab to your life
Where each one stands
Every technology sits on the step its dated, sourced milestones support, never where its makers hope it will be. Open one to see why it's there.
- 5Everyday lifeIt is probably already in your life.
- Carbon nanotube battery additivesBattery materialA small amount of carbon nanotubes mixed into a battery's electrodes forms a network that carries current through the material, letting cells charge and discharge harder without overheating.Batteries containing OCSiAl's nanotubes were powering about a million electric vehicles, and Volkswagen's battery company PowerCo picked…
- Silicon-carbon battery anodesBattery materialA lithium-ion battery stores charge in its anode, usually made of graphite.Sila started operations at its silicon anode plant in Moses Lake, Washington, built for car batteries: 2 to 5 GWh of capacity at first.
- 4Approved or on saleYou can get it now, though it may not be common yet.
- Perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cellsSolar cellA tandem solar cell stacks a thin perovskite cell on top of an ordinary silicon cell.A LONGi tandem cell reached 35.5% efficiency, a world record, certified by the European Solar Test Installation.
- Silica aerogelsInsulating materialAerogels are among the lightest solids ever made.Aspen Aerogels sold $168.9 million of its PyroThin battery heat barriers in 2025, down from $306.8 million in 2024, mostly to GM.
- Silicon nanowire battery anodesBattery materialInstead of graphite, the anode in Amprius's batteries is close to pure silicon grown as a dense forest of nanowires, more than a million per square centimeter.Amprius reported shipping batteries to hundreds of customers during 2025, mostly for drones and other aircraft.
- 3Real-world testingCould reach you in a few years if the tests go well.
- Nothing we track here is at this step yet.
- 2Working prototypeStill years away; many prototypes stall here.
- Nothing we track here is at this step yet.
- 1Lab discoveryUsually 10 years or more from products, and most never get there.
- Nothing we track here is at this step yet.
On the record
The latest steps
The most recent dated events for everything in this topic, newest first, each with its source.
- Working prototype
Tandem solar
A LONGi tandem cell reached 35.5% efficiency, a world record, certified by the European Solar Test Installation.
PV Tech, 16 July 2026 - Widely usedCompany-reported
Nanotube additives
Batteries containing OCSiAl's nanotubes were powering about a million electric vehicles, and Volkswagen's battery company PowerCo picked OCSiAl as a supplier for its Unified Cell.
electrive, 26 June 2026 - On saleCompany-reported
Aerogels
Aspen Aerogels sold $168.9 million of its PyroThin battery heat barriers in 2025, down from $306.8 million in 2024, mostly to GM.
Aspen Aerogels annual report (10-K), 2025 - On saleCompany-reported
Nanowire anodes
Amprius reported shipping batteries to hundreds of customers during 2025, mostly for drones and other aircraft.
Amprius annual report (10-K), 2025 - Production
Silicon anodes
Sila started operations at its silicon anode plant in Moses Lake, Washington, built for car batteries: 2 to 5 GWh of capacity at first.
Evertiq, 24 Sept 2025 - Widely used
Silicon anodes
Silicon-carbon batteries had spread to many flagship phones, including the OnePlus 13, Honor Magic 7 Pro, OPPO Find X8 and vivo X200 series. Apple, Google and Samsung had not adopted them yet.
Android Authority, 19 Mar 2025 - On saleCompany-reported
Tandem solar
Oxford PV shipped its first commercial tandem panels, with 24.5% module efficiency, to a customer in the US.
Oxford PV, 5 Sept 2024 - On sale
Silicon anodes
The Whoop 4.0 fitness tracker went on sale as the first product with Sila's silicon anode material, which raised its battery's energy density by about 17%.
MIT Technology Review, 8 Sept 2021
Who makes it
The companies behind it
Who is building what we track in this topic. Where a company's own filings say how much of its business is nano, we show it.
- Private companySila
Makes Titan Silicon, a silicon anode material for batteries, at a new plant in Moses Lake, Washington.
We track:Silicon anodes
- AMPXNYSEAmprius TechnologiesPure play
Makes lithium-ion batteries with silicon nanowire anodes, used mostly in aviation.
We track:Nanowire anodes
- Private companyOxford PV
Makes perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar panels; shipped its first commercial panels in 2024.
We track:Tandem solar
- 601012SSELONGi Green Energy
A Chinese solar panel maker; reported a 35.5% efficient silicon-perovskite tandem cell in July 2026.
We track:Tandem solar
- Private companyOCSiAl
Makes single-wall carbon nanotubes; its TUBALL additive is in batteries powering about a million electric cars.
We track:Nanotube additives
- ASPNNYSEAspen AerogelsPure play
Makes aerogel insulation, including thin heat barriers for electric car batteries supplied to GM, Toyota and ACC.
We track:Aerogels