Lithium giant to accelerate the development of high nickel ternary batteries

The scarcity of cobalt resources and the continuous improvement of the mileage standard of new energy vehicles have contributed to the accelerated development of high-nickel ternary batteries.

The sixth China lithium-electric new energy industry eco-conference hosted by lithium-electric data and starting point research was held in Shenzhen, where more than 800 experts, scholars and entrepreneurs gathered to discuss the future development of lithium-electric industry.

The starting point study released the research report on the development of the lithium battery industry in the first half of 2017. The report shows that in the first half of 2017, China's Lithium battery production was about 16Gw, and the shipments of Ningde era, Woterma, and BYD were ranked among the top three. The share of power cells in the entire lithium battery market has increased from 43 % in 2016 to 55 %, and the proportion of lithium power 3C digital has dropped from 52 % in 2016 to 41 %. The proportion of energy storage cells has changed little, but the total amount has increased. In 2016, China's total power battery production was 27.39 GWH, lithium iron phosphate, ternary, lithium manganese acid, and others accounted for 60 %, 34 %, and 6 %, respectively.

It is worth noting that in the first half of 2017, the shipment volume of China's positive-pole material market reached 95,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 51 %, and Xiamen tungsten, Hunan fir, and Tianjin Bamo ranked among the top three. However, due to the influence of the new subsidy policy and other factors, the market has greatly increased its demand for ternary positive materials, and the proportion of lithium iron phosphate shipments has decreased.

Iron phosphate batteries have lower cost, longer recycling life and better stability. The energy density of ternary batteries is high, and the range of endurance is long, but it is very easy to burn or explode under the high temperature, and the cobalt elements necessary for ternary batteries have less reserves in China, and most of them are imported overseas. Therefore, the cost of ternary lithium batteries is high.

Due to the relative scarcity of cobalt required for ternary batteries, cobalt prices have also continued to rise since last year. In addition, high-nickel ternary materials have a greater advantage in energy density due to the increase in the proportion of nickel elements compared to lithium iron phosphate and low nickel ternary materials., More and more companies are beginning to aim at the high nickel ternary battery market.

"High nickel materials undoubtedly have great potential for development. Many companies have also recognized the value of high nickel materials and have invested in research. "Tian Li Li can be deputy chief of technology Zhang Lei said at the forum.

It is understood that many well-known battery companies such as Bick, BYD, Ningde Times, Guoxuan Hi-Tech and so on have joined the ranks of high-nickel ternary research and development, and have set goals. For example, BYD, the positive electrode material is made of high-nickel ternary material, and the negative electrode material is made of silicon oxide or nano-silicon. The energy density of the ternary battery is 240Wh/kg in 2018 and 300Wh/kg in 2020. The Ningde era material system is a high-nickel ternary/silicon carbon material. It is expected that the energy density of the ternary battery in 2006 will be 200-250Wh/kg, and the target of 350Wh/kg will be achieved during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period. Guoxuan High-Tech uses high-nickel ternary cathode materials and silicon-based anode materials. The target for 2020 is 300-350Wh/kg.

"With the announcement of the timetable for the suspension of the sale of fuel vehicles in various countries, new energy vehicles will usher in explosive development. Driven by this, power battery materials will also usher in huge development opportunities, and automotive power battery positive materials are also evolving toward high nickel. "The long-term lithium coating leap doctor said that high nickel has also brought two major technical challenges to the industry. One is the difficulty of material synthesis, including cationic mixing(Ni2 + is difficult to oxidize, producing NiO phase), and high temperature decomposition; The second is the interface problem, including high alkalinity(resulting in Jelly, gas, etc.), surface structure distortion(large interface impedance, poor battery performance), particle grain boundary cracking and so on.

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