Gelion (AIM:GELN) said it has completed the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK funded Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator 4 programme, with independent cell build and testing carried out by QinetiQ plc.
The AIM-listed company is developing Nano-Encapsulated Sulfur (NES), a low-cost cathode material made from sulfur, designed to replace critical minerals in lithium-ion battery cathodes while working within existing manufacturing lines.
QinetiQ, the UK defence, security and aerospace group, built lithium-sulfur pouch cells incorporating Gelion's NES cathode material and paired them with lithium metal anodes.
The cells completed 200 cycles of stable operation at 1C discharge, a rate representative of electric vehicle power demands.
They also sustained continuous 3C discharge, matching quadcopter drone cruise requirements, and withstood repeated 6C pulses representing vertical take-off and landing loads.
Testing across 50 repeated drone-style missions showed voltage profiles for take-off, cruise and landing phases remaining closely aligned throughout, with degradation.
The cells showed no evidence of significant polysulfide shuttle effects, a degradation mechanism that has historically lithium-sulfur battery performance.
"The successful completion of this programme is an important milestone for Gelion", said chief executive Matt Wood, adding that the company will discuss next steps with QinetiQ as it evaluates defence and commercial markets for lightweight mobility.
Gary Mepsted, QinetiQ's Capability Lead for Power Sources, said the programme "highlights its potential as a lightweight, high-power battery solution for demanding mobile applications".
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Gelion's lithium-sulfur pouch cells completed independent testing by QinetiQ across 200 stable cycles at 1C discharge, continuous 3C discharge, and repeated 6C pulses mimicking drone take-off and landing, with no significant polysulfide shuttle degradation over 50 simulated missions. This validates the NES cathode's core performance claims in a demanding real-world duty cycle and clears the Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator 4 programme, positioning Gelion to pursue defence and commercial lightweight mobility applications.
The test result de-risks a key technical claim—that NES can sustain high-power cycling without the polysulfide shuttle failure that has historically plagued lithium-sulfur chemistry. However, this is a cell-level validation by a third party; it does not yet demonstrate manufacturing scale, cost parity with incumbent cathodes, or commercial adoption. Gelion remains in the validation phase, with staged milestone-linked payments and royalty obligations to Max-Planck-Innovation and a three-year collaborative programme with Nissan and Oxford still underway.
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