JM, Swan in battery partnership
Johnson Matthey, Thomas Swan and the UK’s Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) have teamed up in the ICE-Batt project. This seeks how to optimise battery technology by using innovative forms of carbon to overcome some of the limitations of lithium-ion batteries, including energy density, power density and low temperature performance.
ICE-Batt, which is funded through the Faraday Battery Challenge, will combine Thomas Swan’s graphene nanoplatelets technology and CPI’s formulation expertise to fine-tune JM’s nickel-rich advanced cathode materials for batteries, such as eLNO and Life Power, so as to achieve their full potential. It will also seek to improve batteries’ green credentials, such as by reducing the use of solvents.
RELATED ARTICLES
BASF has begun a six-week period of change negotiations at its precursor cathode active materials (pCAM) plant in Harjavalta, Finland. This may include layoffs for an indefinite period, potentially impacting all employees.
Orion has formally broken ground on a new plant at La Porte, southeast of Houston, to make acetylene-based conductive additives for lithium-ion batteries, as well as in high-voltage cables used for wind and solar farms. It will source the acetylene from Equistar Chemicals’ nearby site.
Syensqo has opened some new application development laboratories (ADLs) at Bollate, Italy, where it opened its ‘dry room’ laboratory for lithium batteries last year.
During its 2023 results presentation, Evonik announced that it will establish a new organisational structure by the end of 2026. Under ‘Evonik Tailor Made’ it will eliminate administrative activities that do not directly support its businesses and bundle key tasks in the new structure.
Australia’s Orica is to buy Cyanco from an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management for $640 million, 7.5x 2023 EBITDA, on a cash-free, debt-free enterprise value basis.
Under a new supply contract worth about $18.7 billion, LG Chem will supply General Motors (GM) with over 500,000 tonnes of cathode materials from its new plant in Tennessee between 2026 and 2035.
