Scott Brown says his company's rechargeable batteries will benefit the environment and disrupt the market

A flat mobile-phone battery could soon be a thing of the past if cleantech company Nexeon has anything to do with it. A spin-out from Imperial College London, Nexeon has developed silicon anode technology, which gives rechargeable batteries extended life and capacity. The new method of making lithium batteries could work on existing production lines and is more cost-effective.

 "This is almost a disruptive technology, even though people have been working on it for so long," says Dr Scott Brown, Nexeon's chief executive officer. "There will be a lot of benefits for consumer electronics and for the environment."

Better batteries will play a vital role in sustainable energy as they are crucial to a faster uptake of electric vehicles. "Also, energy generation approaches like solar, wind and tidal require energy storage," says Brown. "There's going to be a huge battery component to that, and our technology fits the bill." Nexeon has already won two Rushlight awards for its work on clean fuels.

There's also big money to be made. The lithium battery market is worth around £6bn, and it is predicted to grow to £22bn by 2018. With £15m of funding secured, Nexeon will scale up its production process and is in discussion with battery and automotive companies looking to adopt the technology.