Illinois Tech ‘spinout’ startup Influit Energ

CHICAGO, Aug. 5, 2022—It was only a matter of time—before Influent Energy needed to hire more scientists, before the company’s 2,100-square-foot lab space in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood outgrew it, and the startup’s three co-founders, whose history is inextricably linked to the Illinois Institute of Technology. They will be ready to unveil their invention, the world’s first rechargeable, safe and electric fuel.

John Katsudas (MS, PHYS) “We have developed a new type of flow battery that uses nanofluids containing active materials as nanoelectric batteries. 03), Founder and CEO of Influent Energy. “All the technologies have come together – we have a clear path ahead of us.”

Katsudas calls Influx Energy a “pivot” for Illinois Tech. Leading the company alongside him are two co-founders: Elena Timofeeva, Chief Operating Officer, Director of Research and Development, and Associate Research Professor at Illinois Tech, and Carlo Segre, Chief Technology Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Professor of Physics at Illinois Tech Segre is also the Director of Synchrotron Radiation Research and Instrumentation at Illinois Tech. He is center director and occasionally uses Influent Energy, which operates the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

“[Influit Energy’s research] In the year “It started as a basic science investigation in 2009 when we were at Illinois Tech and Argonne National Laboratory and we’ve taken our technology from basic science development, to applied science, to prototype construction and now our first product development,” Katsudas said.

The United States government has played a critical role in the development of Influent Energy by awarding the company a more than $10 million contract to design and manufacture NEF flow battery prototypes that will allow multiple agencies to use Influent Energy batteries in electric vehicles and aircraft. .

“The unique high-energy density liquid format of NEF flow batteries allows the use of the same liquid in various devices, i.e. liquid, filled at the charging station from renewable energy sources or the grid, for quick refueling of vehicles or for stationary storage and other large mobile applications,” says Timofeeva. . “The spilled fluid can be returned to the charger/station for recharging or can be recharged by plugging the power source into the device.”

The company’s current client list includes NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and two grant programs administered by the U.S. Air Force: AFWERX, a group of innovators working across military, academic, and industry, and the Small Business Innovation Research (AFRL SBIR) program. .

“We’re using a lot of small business innovation support to demonstrate the different components of this closed-loop energy ecosystem,” Segre says. When you’re trying to do something new and change like this, it takes time, and you don’t have to go overboard, but in the end, we’re going toward the same goal—to really get the technology commercialized.

Five different government-backed projects have been strategically designed by Influent Energy as part of a closed-loop energy ecosystem that could one day be widely commercialized.

“Everything we’re doing now is focused on the specific goal of developing what we call a closed-loop energy cycle, where your batteries are liquids, not solids. You can take the battery as fuel to drive devices—cars, trucks, airplanes, anything that needs electricity,” Katsudas says. “Each of our contracts is supporting a different aspect of the overall development of that ecosystem.”

In this new system, the fuel used can be replenished with renewable energy or the electric grid.

“Parts of such ecosystems are batteries for devices such as cars and electric utility vehicles funded by DARPA; fuel and control systems funded by AFWERX; and chargers for rapid recharging of fluids, funded by NASA,” says Timofeeva.

Influent Energy has two separate projects with DARPA. One is focused on demonstrating the efficiency of batteries in utility electric vehicles, and the other is research on how to optimize and scale up the production of NEF batteries. The goal is to reduce the number and size of the batteries.

“The fifth project is related to development [second-generation nanoelectrofuel] and supported by AFRL SBIR funding,” says Timofeeva. “This new second-generation NEF chemistry in our unique and proprietary nanofluidic formulation ultimately results in four to five times the energy consumption compared to the state-of-the-art. [lithium-ion] Batteries and air power needs and requirements are greatly improved energy density, increased operating temperature, no risk of fire and explosion, and are made from cheap, locally produced, earth-rich materials.

Since the liquid in the batteries can be recharged anywhere, using any of the charging methods available in that market, Katsudas shows great progress and opportunity for future use of influent energy batteries.

“In short, that’s what Influent Energy is going for, and that’s what each of the contracts is focused on doing,” he said. “[Each of our sponsors are] Financial support of a separate part of the vision. The neat thing is, in terms of Influent Energy, they’re funding this whole vision, piece by piece. b [each of the funding agencies], for each of our sponsors, they are getting a different pain point, so it’s all win-win. And that’s how we’re going to win this effectively — full and total electrification of transportation, an unbreakable transportation electric grid, and a power distribution infrastructure that doesn’t cost us trillions of dollars to rebuild.”

In June 2022, the Influite team successfully completed the first NEF flow battery test for an electric utility vehicle, which was demonstrated on a commercial sales partner site. Katsudas spoke about Influent Energy’s work at the Southwest Festival and a few academic conferences earlier this year, and is now talking to venture capitalists about the future of Influent Energy. As contracts continue to pile up, the company is hiring new scientists and is actively looking to expand its square footage — from 2,100 square feet to 20,000 — by acquiring new lab space. It remains to be seen where the laboratory will be located. The co-founders said they hope to stay in Chicago but are considering opportunities in Austin, Texas.

Illinois Institute of Technology

The Illinois Institute of Technology, also known as Illinois Tech, is a private, technology-focused research university. Illinois Tech is the only university of its kind in Chicago, and its Chicago location gives students access to the world-class resources of a great global metropolis. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, architecture, business, design, humanities, applied technology and law. One of 22 institutions that make up the Association of Free Technological Universities, Illinois Tech offers an exceptional education focused on active learning, and its graduates lead the state and much of the nation in economic prosperity. Illinois Tech uniquely prepares students to succeed in careers that require technological sophistication, creative thinking, and an entrepreneurial spirit.