A Positive Electrode Material with Nickel Content of 98%
Professor Jo Jae-pil and his research team at the Department of Energy Chemical Engineering of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has developed a high-nickel positive electrode material with a cobalt content of 1 percent and a nickel content of 98 percent. The material, which is to increase the driving ranges of electric vehicles and reduce their prices, is the first one of its kind in the world that has a nickel content of more than 94 percent. The team is about to reach commercial use and mass production is expected to become possible in the first half of next year.
A rechargeable battery is made up of positive and negative electrode materials, a separator, and an electrolyte as a passage of lithium ions. The positive electrode material is required to withstand a high voltage and accounts for approximately 40 percent of the price of the battery. A combination of nickel, cobalt and manganese or nickel, cobalt and aluminum with a nickel content of 80 percent or more has been used in the positive electrode material in most cases. What is important here is to minimize the use of cobalt, which is about twice more expensive than nickel.
“Given that the amount of the positive electrode material in an ordinary electric vehicle battery is 100 kilograms, our development can increase the capacity by 1,600 Ah and increase the driving range to the same extent,” the professor explained, adding, “The driving range and production cost reduction are estimated at 15 percent to 16 percent and 20 percent, respectively.”
According to him, the increase in capacity can lead to longer service lives of those batteries as the frequency of charge and discharge can be reduced. During positive electrode material synthesis, the lithium on the surface of the material needs to be removed by washing with water. The other essential elements are also removed in this process and this removal results in a decline in performance. The team, however, succeeded in solving this problem.
The new material is highly meaningful in that it has overcome limitations. As recently as two months ago, Samsung SDI, LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation mentioned 94 percent as the highest nickel content that is theoretically possible.
The professor, who was a senior research engineer at Samsung SDI, has led the rechargeable battery research center of the institute since 2014. He founded SM Lab in July 2018 and the startup is the only company in the world that has an original technology for high-nickel positive electrode material production on a single crystal basis. A single-crystal positive electrode material as compared with polycrystalline is capable of increasing the service life of a battery by up to 30 percent.
The new development is expected to cause a sea change in the domestic market. At present, the high-nickel positive electrode material market is being led by EcoPro BM and L&F and both are currently incapable of manufacturing positive electrode materials with a nickel content of 90 percent or more. EcoPro BM is working with SK Innovation in order to reach 94 percent.