Lowering the cost of lithium-ion battery technology innovation

Recently, wan gang, minister of the ministry of science and technology of the People's Republic of China, summed up the achievements in the development of new energy vehicles by saying that "the price of power battery system has dropped below 2 yuan/watt-hour, while the production capacity has reached 200G watt-hour, basically meeting the needs of industrialization and the market.

How did the price of power batteries become the price of cabbage?

Recently, the "graphite and graphene materials for high-performance lithium ion batteries" project from shenzhen won the second prize of national technological invention award, which is the scientific research achievement of professor kang feiyu's team from shenzhen graduate school of Tinghua University and professor Yang quanhong's team from tianjin university. The reporter learned in the interview, the original is the unremitting efforts of these scientific research workers, making the power battery cheaper, let the new energy vehicles into the public life.

What's the use of this technology on earth? It how much cattle? Why is in guangdong pearl river delta region to complete? Recently, the project is one of the main persons involved, the shenzhen graduate school of tsinghua university professor bao-hua li accepted reporter an exclusive interview, uncover the mystery of this technology to the readers.

How good is it? The lithium battery industry has become a tripartite situation among China, Japan and South Korea.

New energy vehicles are mainly composed of battery power system, electrical system and electric control system, as well as assembly parts. Motor, electric control and assembly and traditional cars are basically the same, the price difference is due to the battery drive system. In terms of the cost structure of new energy vehicles, the battery drive system takes up 30%~45% of the cost of new energy vehicles, and the lithium battery power takes up about 75%~85% of the cost structure of battery drive system.

Address the high price is the core of the new energy vehicles is to reduce power lithium batteries a purchasing cost. And "high performance lithium ion battery with graphite and graphene materials" project belongs to the inorganic non-metallic materials of graphite and carbon products manufacturing technology, optimization lithium ion power battery charge and discharge rate and cycle and high and low temperature performance, improved the processing technology and the utilization level of natural graphite resources in China, improve the international competitiveness of China's lithium ion battery industry.

The technology has many cattle? Bao-hua li expounds the developing of the project to the reporter. Originally, lithium ion battery manufacturing industry is the earliest Japanese done, its manufacturing lithium ion battery cathode materials with man-made carbon graphite materials, which greatly promote the commercialization of lithium-ion batteries. Why use artificial graphite material? Because of lack of Japan, itself has no natural graphite mineral reserves, artificial graphite materials mainly derived from petroleum chemical industry and steel industry. When the artificial graphite anode materials technology in Japanese hands. Later, South Korea also learned Japanese technology, so the early lithium ion battery, Japan and South Korea market has been to play a leading role. But the preparation process, high cost, large energy consumption of artificial graphite constrains its price and scale.

Our country situation is different from Japan and South Korea, our country is rich in natural graphite resources reserves, to the production of lithium ion battery if you can realize natural graphite instead of artificial graphite, on the one hand, can reduce energy consumption, reduce cost, on the other hand also can realize the corner overtaking in the international competition. The significance of self-evident. So from the last century in our country began to carry out the study of natural graphite, professor kang unisoft's team is the first domestic engaged in deep processing of natural graphite and the application of scientific research team.

Project team for more than twenty years of research, from the earliest declare natural graphite cathode for a patent for invention, breakthrough key technology, to realize the scale of application of the natural graphite and graphene, using resources and technical advantages, finally make the lithium ion battery "cheap", formation of lithium ion battery industry pattern of the three pillars of "China, Japan and South Korea".

Bao-hua li told reporters with a set of digital image, before 2000, preparation of lithium ion battery with artificial graphite anode materials, the price of one ton of 30 ~ 400000 yuan; Gradually reduced after 2000 to the current 3 ~ 100000 yuan. It also reversed transmission with Japan and South Korea battery companies significantly reduce the price of lithium ion batteries.

Now the annual output value of lithium ion battery cathode materials market at home and abroad nearly 10 billion yuan, nearly 40% is made from natural graphite deep processing.

Where are characteristics in? 35 invention patents has authorized to realize industrialization application

Bao-hua li said that this project has 35 authorized invention patents. Such as invented the dual intercalating flake graphite modification and micro technology, realize the low-cost preparation of graphite; Develop fast charge and discharge, working temperature range and long cycling life commercial bentonite modified graphite anode materials, lithium ion battery discharge time shortened significantly; The preparation of graphene invented the negative pressure in low temperature, realized the low cost of high quality graphene, preparation of macro; Based on "point -" model is proposed graphene conductive agent application technology and so on.

Bao-hua li says proudly: "the project to develop industrialization of key materials and the integration technology of independent intellectual property rights, promote the fast charge battery discharge, circulation, greatly improve the performance of high and low temperature. Changed the industry structure, broke the lack of high-end graphite industry in China, high value-added processing technology has long been foreign monopoly situation. The development of new energy and the electric car industry is of great significance."

Learned, results of the project has been in shenzhen xiang forword, and other partners to realize the industrialization and application, related products and technology is mainly used in such as domestic byd lithium electricity leading enterprises, and achieved good economic and social benefits.

Why is shenzhen? Working with Nobel laureates to overcome problems

Why is so significant a technical project, will choose application industrialization in the pearl river delta region of guangdong, finally back to the weight of a national award for guangdong shenzhen?

Bao-hua li told reporters that at the beginning of the project team and technology research is conducted in mainland, this is because mainland university, scientific research personnel, but the "technology application has a running-in process, we need to closely combine with industry, know what companies need to really be used to make technology, and improved step by step. The guangdong pearl river delta region is China's largest production base of lithium ion battery, so we choose to come to guangdong.

Since 2002, the project team started to south and production enterprises, such as bao-hua li has worked in a lithium ion battery enterprises for nearly 3 years, gradually found out the real needs of the enterprise. Bao-hua li said, "of lithium-ion battery production enterprises with original technology of Japan and South Korea, have a kind of inertia, began to our domestic technology have resistance. But as our cooperation further, get to know each other, our technology is becoming more and more mature. Now the establishment of a complete industrial chain."

In shenzhen, the city government key support the development of new materials, new energy and the electric car industry, particularly in recent years the strong support of graphene materials science and technology innovation and industrial development, provides the objective of the research and development and application of good innovation environment and enormous industrial development space. Shenzhen has important areas such as graphene as strong support from the future direction of the government, in 2017, by the shenzhen municipal government, shenzhen science and technology innovation investment construction management committee, tsinghua - shenzhen Berkeley college and graduate school of tsinghua university in shenzhen as a supporting institution game graphene research center ", "shenzhen (ShenzhenGeimGrapheneResearchCenter, SGC) unveiled the plaque was set up in shenzhen. Nobel physics prize winner in 2010, one of graphene found that professor Andre geim, led by the internationally renowned scientific research experiment platform research center, the key to overcome by graphene two-dimensional material in cutting-edge research and industrialization of high-end products to meet the basis of the key problems, eventually become a set research and development, standardization and industrialization testing such as multi-functional service platform.

For the future, bao-hua li said, in the national support under the background of the development of electric vehicle industry, increasing demand for high-end lithium ion power battery, anode and therefore the key to high performance and high value-added material such as conductive agent has a broad market prospect in the future.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.