The Japanese have elevated solid state batteries to a state of high strategic readiness to return to lithium power.

The Japanese are eager to make a comeback in lithium.

Not long ago, Japanese media reported that from May this year, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will invest 1.6 billion yen, within the United Nations Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Matsushita, GS Yuasa, Toray, Asahi Kasei, Mitsui Chemicals, Mitsubishi Chemical, etc. Large auto manufacturers, batteries and materials manufacturers jointly develop solid-state batteries.

According to the data, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is affiliated with the Central Department of Japan. It is mainly responsible for enhancing the vitality of the private economy, ensuring the smooth development of foreign economic relations, ensuring economic and industrial development, and making the supply of mineral resources and energy stable and maintaining efficiency.

The determination of Japan to seize the commanding height of the solid state battery sector is evident in the rise of solid state batteries to a national strategic height and the gathering of the top domestic industrial chain forces. The recapture of the market share of power batteries seized by Chinese and South Korean companies was interpreted by the Japanese media as one of the aims of the government to increase the research and development of all-solid batteries.

Japanese companies accounted for about 70 per cent of the world's share of car batteries in 2013, according to data produced by the Japan Economic News, but their market share fell to 41 per cent in 2016 as Chinese and South Korean companies accelerated.

In 2013, lithium batteries were indeed the "watershed" for the development of lithium batteries. Before that, lithium batteries were mainly used in the consumer electronics field. The market was mature and stable. Since 2013, new energy vehicles have begun to rise rapidly worldwide, and the power battery industry has become more powerful than ever before.

Although Japan(the world's first lithium-ion battery was first mass-produced by Japan's SONY company in 1991), which occupies the starting advantage of the industrialization of lithium power technology, has fully shared the dividends of the lithium power industry, it is under the influence of policies, markets, and development strategies. Under the influence of, In the face of the fierce offensive by rising Chinese and Korean battery companies, Japan has only managed to maintain a passive contraction in the area of lithium power in recent years.

In fact, according to JFD data, the global market share of lithium in Japan has dropped to about 15 % in 2016.

Obviously, this situation is not acceptable to the Japanese government and companies, and the development of solid batteries that are recognized as the next generation of batteries is a broken plan given by Japanese society. According to the clues of the Japanese layout in the solid-state battery field, it is basically certain that this will not be an "empty gun."

In the solid-state battery sector, Japan will be steady, focusing on the core technology of the consistent style of display to the fullest.

Prior to the formal funding, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan considered applying to the International Electro technical Commission(IEC) to promote the development of international standards in order to ensure the dominance of global vehicle-mounted all-solid batteries.

In April 2018, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and the Japan New Energy Industry Technology Comprehensive Development Agency(NEDO) announced that it will limit it to 2022 to formulate an all-solid lithium battery test evaluation method that reflects international standards and specifications, and jointly formulate a vehicle. The international standardization strategy for all-solid lithium batteries.

In addition to the Super awareness expressed at the level of market rules, a large number of Japanese universities, institutions and companies focused on the research in the field of solid-state battery technology, which provided a solid hard strength for Japan to promote the industrialization of solid-state batteries.

Colleges / institutions

In 2011, professor Takino of the East University of Technology and other people and Toyota Motor jointly developed a new solid electrolyte, and subsequently improved the material by changing the element type. In 2016, the ionic conductivity of the solid electrolyte was more than twice that of the organic electrolyte. The battery power density is more than 3 times. After the prototype solid battery was repeatedly charged and discharged in the laboratory for 1,000 times, the capacity was hardly attenuated.

In 2014, Professor Shantian Chunfu of the University of Tokyo and others used high concentrations of electrolytes to reduce battery charging time to 1/3 of the usual lithium-ion battery and succeeded. In 2017, the development of a non-flammable, dense electrolyte, the use of non-flammable trimethyl phosphate as an organic solvent, heated to 200 degrees Celsius, will produce a vapor that can extinguish flames, and even have the role of a lithium-ion battery extinguishing agent.

The Koji University of Okayama, the professor of the West, has successfully developed a positive charge-discharge-related positive electrode. By coating the surface of the particle of the positive electrode material with particles containing titanium and ruthenium, the test battery can be 5 times that of a conventional lithium-ion battery speed to charge.

In addition, Takada Hedian, deputy director of the National Institute of Materials Research in Japan, has developed a new type of negative material system. Its negative capacity can be increased to about 10 times that of existing lithium ion batteries, and the battery capacity is expected to increase by about 50 %.

The optical glass leading company Ohara Seisakusho (Mitsui) has also developed a glass additive material that can suppress the capacity reduction under fast charging and low temperature conditions - LICGC. When LICGC is mixed into a solid battery positive electrode material, it is rapidly discharged at a rate of 3 times the battery charging speed, which is about 40% larger than that of a conventional lithium ion battery, and about 25% at a temperature of minus 20 °C.

Toyota

Among Japanese companies, Toyota is recognized as one of the most authoritative companies in the solid state battery field at this stage.

As early as 2010, Toyota introduced a solid-state battery of sulfide. By 2014, it was reported that the energy density of the Toyota prototype solid-state battery had reached 400Wh/kg. As of February 2017, Toyota's solid-state battery patents have reached 30, far exceeding other companies.

In October 2017, Toyota announced that it will invest more than 200 people to accelerate the development of solid-state battery technology. In December of the same year, Toyota United Matsushita announced that it will jointly develop all-solid batteries to promote the popularity of electric vehicles through advanced battery technology.

In the same month, Toyota once again announced that it plans to launch 10 electric vehicles in 2020 and commercialize the next generation of solid-state batteries. The news was later confirmed by Toyota Materials Engineering executive Shigeki Suzuki, and followed by the news that Toyota will commercialize all-solid batteries by 2020.

TDK

TDK is a famous electronics industry brand in Japan. It has long occupied a leading position in the field of electronic raw materials and components. ATL, which is known to the Chinese, is a subsidiary of TDK.

In November 2017, TDK announced that it has developed the world's first all-ceramic solid battery, CeraCharge, with a new battery size of 4.5 × 3.2 × 1.1 mm, using small SMD technology. The rated voltage is 1.4 V, the capacity is 100 μAh, and the number of charge and discharge cycles can exceed 1,000 times. It is expected to be mass-produced in the spring of 2018.

According to Japanese media reports, TDK will use Austrian factories to achieve a monthly production of 20,000 to 30,000 CeraCharge.

In order to achieve the mass production plan, TDK also plans to invest a total of 100 billion yen in equipment investment between 2018 and 2020. The target is to increase the revenue of thin film application products including lithium ion batteries by 60 % in 2020 from 2016. About 400 billion JPY.

Murata Production Office

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a Japanese electronics parts manufacturer, announced the development of high-output lithium ion secondary batteries in 2005. In 2015, it began mass production of small lithium ion secondary batteries with lithium titanate.

In 2016, due to the shrinking revenue of the original main business, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. made a price of 17.5 billion yen and was transferred to Sony's battery business after Sony commercialized the world's first lithium-ion battery. In the deal, Sony will transfer the technical strength and business experience it has accumulated in the battery business to Murata.

On this basis, Murata set the goal of further expanding the lithium-ion battery business. According to the plan, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. will put solid-state batteries into the market around 2019.

In addition, Japanese NGK, Mitsubishi Gas Chemistry, Toray, Panasonic, Sumitomo Chemical and other manufacturers also expressed their optimism about the market prospects of all-solid batteries and are accelerating the development of related materials.

Mitsubishi Gas Chemistry aims to develop solid electrolytes for all-solid batteries by 2020 and bring a new generation of battery materials to market as soon as possible.

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