Lithium-ion batteries – key technology for future forms of mobility

Specialty chemicals know-how for lithium-ion batteries and electric mobility

Lithium-ion batteries are a key technology for future forms of mobility and energy storage. Their mass production is rising sharply, above all due to the trend towards electric vehicles. Whereas in 2018 around 64 percent of these batteries were still produced for electric mobility worldwide, by 2025 this figure will have risen to well over 85 percent. This is also due to the fact that they are becoming cheaper and cheaper. According to a forecast by the P3 Group at the Battery Experts Forum in April 2019, the cost of lithium-ion battery systems will fall to such an extent by 2020 that electrically powered vehicles will be competitive with their combustion engine counterparts.

The entire value chain benefits

What does all this have to do with LANXESS? A lot. The specialty chemicals group’s raw materials and plastics have great potential for application and innovation at numerous points along the entire lithium-ion battery value chain. This applies to the interior of the battery cell as well as to components of entire battery modules, but also to components of the drive system of electric vehicles

At eye level with the international battery industry

LANXESS sees lithium-ion batteries as an important pillar of its future specialty chemicals business. These manifold chances were the reason to take part in the Battery Show in Stuttgart for the first time with an own booth at the beginning of May 2019. It is the largest European trade fair for highly developed battery and hybrid vehicle technologies and is regarded as groundbreaking for progress in lithium-ion batteries.

Our expertise in materials and technologies is helping to make lithium-ion batteries, and thus also electric vehicles, ever more efficient and cost-effective.

Dr. Wolfgang EbenbeckExpert in corporate development at LANXESS

“The Battery Show offered us the ideal opportunity to make direct contact with international battery manufacturers and their suppliers. It turned out that our innovations are at eye level with the international battery industry.”

Dr. Anika van AakenExpert in the "e-Powertrain Team" of the High Performance Materials (HPM) division

Thermoplastics for battery, powertrain and charging infrastructure

Customized polyamides Durethan and Pocan from LANXESS, for example, are ideal for components in lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicle drives and charging infrastructure. Potential applications include battery covers, high voltage plugs, control unit housings, cell holders and coolant lines.

The high-tech plastics

enable the cost-reducing integration of numerous functions into a component by injection moulding process.

The high-tech plastics

can be flame-retardant in order to reduce the risk of fire.

The high-tech plastics

can be thermally conductive to operate the battery at optimum temperature.

The high-tech plastics

save weight, which increases the range of electric vehicles.

“Our materials meet the world’s most important norms and standards in the electrical, electronics and automotive industries and are for the most part already used in vehicles. These are the best prerequisites for meeting new material requirements in electromobility.”

Dr. Anika van AakenExpert in the "e-Powertrain Team" of the High Performance Materials division

Specialty Chemicals for the Cell

Materials from LANXESS also prove their worth in the “heart” of the lithium-ion battery the cell.

Bayoxide E B iron oxide pigments, for example, are the starting material for lithium iron phosphate. This salt is a component of the cell cathode and enables, among other things, rapid charging of the battery at high charging currents. Another example are the dispersions Rhenofit CNT-4, which contain tiny carbon tubes. In the cell cathodes and anodes, these ensure that the capacities of the batteries and the number of possible charge cycles increase. Lewatit ion exchange resins also perform important tasks. They are used to produce battery-capable nickel and cobalt as well as high-purity lithium. All three metals are components of the cathodes.

The four main components of a lithium ion cell:

the cathode stores lithium when the battery is discharged
the anode absorbs lithium when charging the battery
the charge transport between the two electrodes takes place via the electrolyte in the form of lithium ions
the separator, which is continuous for lithium ions, separates the anode and cathode and thus prevents a short circuit

Secure supply of electrolyte producers in Europe

Lithium hexafluorophosphate has established itself as the lead salt for the electrolyte. The massive expansion of production capacities for lithium-ion batteries in Europe will also increase the demand for this electrolyte component. Among others it is produced from hydrofluoric acid and phosphorus trichloride. LANXESS is one of the leading manufacturers of these two starting materials.

“We will secure the production of electrolyt salt in EU through a reliable supply of both raw materials.”

Dr. Wolfgang EbenbeckExpert in corporate development at LANXESS

Entry into lithium production planned

The boom in lithium-ion batteries is also boosting demand for lithium for battery chemicals worldwide. LANXESS wants to benefit from this and has entered into a cooperation with the Canadian company Standard Lithium Ltd. The source of the lithium is a brine in El Dorado in the United States that LANXESS used to produce bromine and products derived from bromine. Standard Lithium brings into the cooperation a new process for the extraction of high-purity lithium directly from brines.