Lattice Graph × Peak Energy

Lattice Graph is a computational materials-discovery platform built around a knowledge graph that spans millions of compositions and connects formula, crystal structure, thermodynamic stability, synthetic accessibility, and intellectual property in a single traversable graph. For a sodium-ion cell maker like Peak Energy, that connectivity means a researcher can start from a proposed cathode coating or electrolyte dopant and immediately trace its computed energy-above-hull, band gap, phonon stability, and the specific patent claims that fence or clear it — without stitching together five separate tools and a literature search. Candidate materials are validated through multiple independent physics engines before any result is surfaced. Lattice Graph runs machine-learning interatomic potentials including MACE and CHGNet alongside density functional theory, then adjudicates agreement and disagreement across engines to produce a consensus stability verdict rather than a single model's prediction. For sodium-ion electrolytes and interfaces specifically, this matters: the platform's own record shows that MACE-MD can overpredict absolute ionic conductivity by roughly two orders of magnitude, and that engines disagree on phonon stability for certain sodium oxide interlayer candidates — so the cross-engine trust signal tells Peak which computed properties are ready to act on and which still need experimental confirmation before qualification resources are committed. The platform's freedom-to-operate and patent-whitespace screening covers more than 300,000 materials patents at the composition and claim level. For Na-ion chemistry, where the obvious bulk electrolyte and NASICON-coating compositions are already being claimed by well-funded players, this screening layer is not a compliance step — it is the design constraint. Lattice Graph also holds a large atlas of labeled negative results, failed experiments that most models and databases never see, which lets the platform rule out known dead ends in Na electrolyte doping, interface film deposition, and cathode coating processes before a team runs them at the bench.

Peak Energy is building sodium-ion cells and systems for stationary grid storage on the thesis that earth-abundant sodium chemistry, combined with domestic, non-flammable cell formats, can undercut lithium-iron-phosphate on installed cost and supply-chain risk. That thesis is technically sound, but it puts Peak squarely in the materials-development bottleneck where sodium-ion lives right now: the Na-compatible electrolyte, the anode-side interface, and the cathode-particle coating are the three layers that determine whether a sodium stack achieves grid-grade cycle life and can be manufactured at competitive cost. These are exactly the layers where open IP whitespace still exists, and exactly the layers that Lattice Graph's solid-state battery electrolytes and interfaces portfolio was built to cover. The strategic pressure on Peak is sharpening on two fronts simultaneously. On the chemistry side, the sodium thiophosphate electrolyte space and the NASICON-coating space are being claimed faster than most people expected a year ago — broad substituted-NASICON coating patents from competitors already limit what Peak can own outright, which means the defensible positions that remain are process-defined, architecture-defined, or dopant-chemistry-defined carve-outs, not bare compositions. On the manufacturing side, as Peak moves toward domestic gigafactory qualification, the freedom-to-operate posture on every key material becomes a board-level question with direct consequences for licensing negotiations, investor diligence, and DOE partnership eligibility. Lattice Graph maps onto Peak's roadmap at exactly this inflection point. The solid-state battery electrolytes and interfaces portfolio contains a sodium arm built around dry-processable Na electrolytes, oxide anode-side interlayers, and NASICON electrode coatings, each positioned deliberately outside the issued bulk-composition art, each backed by cross-engine stability evidence on record, and each with an explicit freedom-to-operate posture already assessed. Rather than asking Peak to run its own discovery program from scratch on a compressed timeline, Lattice Graph provides computationally validated, freedom-to-operate-assessed materials positions Peak can evaluate, license, and advance to qualification in a fraction of the time a parallel internal effort would require.

Peak Energy is building sodium-ion cells and systems for stationary grid storage on the thesis that earth-abundant sodium chemistry, combined with domestic, non-flammable cell formats, can undercut lithium-iron-phosphate on installed cost and supply-chain risk. That thesis is technically sound, but it puts Peak squarely in the materials-development bottleneck where sodium-ion lives right now: the Na-compatible electrolyte, the anode-side interface, and the cathode-particle coating are the three layers that determine whether a sodium stack achieves grid-grade cycle life and can be manufactured at competitive cost. These are exactly the layers where open IP whitespace still exists, and exactly the layers that Lattice Graph's solid-state battery electrolytes and interfaces portfolio was built to cover. The strategic pressure on Peak is sharpening on two fronts simultaneously. On the chemistry side, the sodium thiophosphate electrolyte space and the NASICON-coating space are being claimed faster than most people expected a year ago — broad substituted-NASICON coating patents from competitors already limit what Peak can own outright, which means the defensible positions that remain are process-defined, architecture-defined, or dopant-chemistry-defined carve-outs, not bare compositions. On the manufacturing side, as Peak moves toward domestic gigafactory qualification, the freedom-to-operate posture on every key material becomes a board-level question with direct consequences for licensing negotiations, investor diligence, and DOE partnership eligibility. Lattice Graph maps onto Peak's roadmap at exactly this inflection point. The solid-state battery electrolytes and interfaces portfolio contains a sodium arm built around dry-processable Na electrolytes, oxide anode-side interlayers, and NASICON electrode coatings, each positioned deliberately outside the issued bulk-composition art, each backed by cross-engine stability evidence on record, and each with an explicit freedom-to-operate posture already assessed. Rather than asking Peak to run its own discovery program from scratch on a compressed timeline, Lattice Graph provides computationally validated, freedom-to-operate-assessed materials positions Peak can evaluate, license, and advance to qualification in a fraction of the time a parallel internal effort would require.

The solid-state battery electrolytes and interfaces portfolio addresses the full stack of materials challenges in a solid-state or sodium-ion cell: the electrolyte layer itself, the two interfaces bracketing it on the anode and cathode sides, the electrode coatings that determine interdiffusion and impedance growth, and the integrated cell architecture that ties them together with qualification endpoints. For Peak, the sodium arm of this portfolio is the primary focus, but the architecture and interface methods are transferable across chemistries, which matters as Peak considers how its manufacturing platform might evolve beyond the initial sodium-ion cell format. On the electrolyte line, the dry-film divalent-doped Na3PS4 system is the flagship for a grid-storage manufacturer: it is a solvent-free, dry-calendered sodium thiophosphate film with calcium, strontium, magnesium, and zinc doping placed deliberately outside the published trivalent and tetravalent Markush families that competitors have claimed, combined with a sodium-metal stabilization layer addressing the anode interface in the same system. This is the shape of position that survives manufacturing scale-up and freedom-to-operate scrutiny — the inventive carve-out is at the process and interfacial architecture level, not at the bulk composition level where the field is crowded. On the cathode-coating side, the unsubstituted NaZr2(PO4)3 NASICON coating represents the narrow but clear freedom-to-operate path that remains after the broad substituted-NASICON coating art has been accounted for, applied as a positionally defined film via a dry, controlled-atmosphere process directly relevant to Peak's manufacturing requirements. Beyond the sodium-specific assets, the integrated all-solid-state battery cell stack and the anode-side interlayer process methods represent architectural positions that Peak can apply as it builds out its cell design. The interlayer process — producing aluminate or hafnate interlayers on garnet or compatible solid electrolytes with documented critical current density endpoints — provides manufacturing process IP that complements composition-level materials positions, giving Peak overlapping layers of defensibility rather than a single composition claim an competitor could design around.

Peak's materials science and IP teams would use the platform's knowledge graph explorer and freedom-to-operate screening dashboard as their primary daily surfaces. In the graph explorer, researchers pull composition-360 views on candidate sodium electrolytes and cathode coatings — seeing computed stability, band gap, and conductivity data alongside the patent and prior-art neighborhood, with cross-engine agreement and disagreement flagged directly in the interface so the team knows at a glance which computed properties to trust and which to treat as directional signals pending experimental confirmation. The composition intelligence dossiers, one per material, provide a structured, provenance-backed summary of formula, space group, energy-above-hull, and freedom-to-operate posture that doubles as internal go/no-go documentation and as diligence material for DOE partnerships and investor conversations. For broader screening tasks, the batch composition screening and synthesis workflow tools let Peak triage families of Na-compatible dopants, interface film chemistries, and cathode coating variants in parallel rather than one at a time, with formation-energy predictions and trust signals surfaced automatically. The negative-results layer, accessible through the explorer, lets Peak check a proposed sodium electrolyte dopant combination or annealing condition against the platform's atlas of labeled failed experiments before committing bench time — turning what would otherwise be months of rediscovery into a pre-screening step that focuses experimental resources on the candidates most likely to advance.

A Peak Energy engagement would typically begin with a scoped evaluation period in which Peak's team uses the freedom-to-operate and patent-whitespace screening service to map the IP landscape around its current sodium electrolyte, cathode coating, and interface chemistry stack. This produces a claim-level whitespace report that confirms which of the materials positions in the solid-state battery electrolytes and interfaces portfolio are available for licensing, which lanes are already foreclosed by competitors, and where Peak's own proprietary chemistry has room to file. Deliverables from this phase include composition-level freedom-to-operate reads, a whitespace map of the remaining open sodium-ion electrolyte and coating positions, and a ranked set of portfolio assets recommended for further evaluation — typically completed over a period of weeks rather than months. From that foundation, Peak would move to a field-of-use license on the sodium arm assets it chooses to advance — most likely the dry-film Na3PS4 electrolyte system and the NaZr2(PO4)3 NASICON coating as primary positions, with the anode interlayer process method and integrated stack architecture as complementary layers. License structures are typically scoped to Peak's field of use in sodium-ion stationary and grid storage, structured as an upfront fee plus milestone or running royalty calibrated to the asset's estimated total addressable market. Co-development arrangements are available for assets Peak wants to push from computed position to qualified cell, with resulting experimental validation and any new filings structured collaboratively. Lattice Graph can also serve as an NV013 Phase II partner or provide a letter of support, pairing a funding pathway with the materials IP engagement in a single conversation.