The demand for lithium battery electrolyte is growing rapidly and the
technology continues to mature. The materials of lithium batteries include four
types of positive electrodes, negative electrodes, separators, and electrolytes.
The electrolyte affects the energy density, power density, wide temperature
application, cycle life, safety performance and other factors of lithium
batteries. Driven by the development of the downstream market, the lithium
battery market will continue to maintain rapid growth, and the electrolyte
market will also be driven, with promising prospects.
Demand for lithium battery electrolyte is growing rapidly
After years of continuous process improvement and technology accumulation,
my country's electrolyte products have not only continued to grow in terms of
output, but also product quality has reached the international advanced level.
In recent years, the sales volume of my country's lithium battery electrolyte
market has grown rapidly, from 16,800 tons in 2011 to 88,800 tons in 2016, with
a compound annual growth rate of 39.51%.
Demand for lithium batteries is growing rapidly. With their excellent
performance, lithium batteries have gradually replaced nickel-metal hydride,
nickel-cadmium and other batteries and are rapidly gaining popularity in the
field of mobile power supplies. Global lithium battery production has maintained
rapid growth in the past few years, growing rapidly from 5.95GWh in 2003 to
33.5GWh in 2012, with an average annual growth rate of 21.6%. Currently it is
mainly used in mobile phones, laptops, power tools, energy storage and other
fields.
China's lithium battery production is growing rapidly. From 2008 to 2013,
China's lithium battery production increased from 1.03 billion to 4.77 billion,
an increase of 3.6 times, with an average annual compound growth rate of 30%.
With the explosive growth of the three major needs of electric vehicles,
electric bicycles and energy storage batteries, the demand for lithium batteries
will continue to grow rapidly in the future. The lithium battery electrolyte
market has huge potential.
In recent years, lithium batteries have developed rapidly, and the demand
for lithium hexafluorophosphate has increased significantly. Domestic companies
such as Duofuoduo, Jiujiujiu, Tianci Materials, etc. have successively achieved
mass production of lithium hexafluorophosphate through external imported
technology and independent research and development. However, as supply
increases, demand does not increase simultaneously, resulting in overcapacity
and the rise of price wars. The selling price of lithium hexafluorophosphate has
fallen by more than half since 2013. Although the selling prices and gross
profit margins of lithium hexafluorophosphate and electrolytes have fallen
sharply, corporate reports show that thanks to the development of downstream new
energy vehicles and the steady growth of traditional consumer electronics
products, the sales volume of electrolytes has increased significantly compared
with previous years.
Judging from the global sales of electrolytes in recent years, it has shown
a trend of stable and rapid growth. Although the demand for traditional 3C
lithium batteries has gradually slowed down, with the development of the new
energy automobile industry, it has brought new developments to the growth of the
lithium battery industry. power, thus driving the growth of the electrolyte
industry.
Lithium battery electrolyte technology continues to mature
After years of development, domestic lithium battery electrolyte has become
the most technologically mature variety among the four major materials. It has
been exported in large quantities, accounting for more than 50% of the global
share. Recognition by major international manufacturers proves the quality of
domestic electrolytes. As the demand for electric vehicles kicks off, it will
not be too difficult for leading electrolyte companies with strong R&D
capabilities to enter this field. In addition, the popularity of electric
vehicles still requires price reduction of power batteries, so there is huge
room for substitution of domestic electrolytes.
The manufacturing and R&D levels of China's leading electrolyte
companies have improved rapidly in recent years, and product quality has quickly
approached the international advanced level. Relying on its cost-effectiveness
advantage, China's lithium battery electrolyte global market share has increased
rapidly in recent years, and products from companies such as Jiangsu Cathay,
Xinzhoubang and Tianjin Jinniu have entered the international market.
According to our understanding, the patent issue of electrolyte formula is
also an important reason that troubles Chinese companies to go global.
Currently, some electrolyte formula patents are in the hands of Japanese
manufacturers such as Mitsubishi and Ube, which has become a key obstacle
preventing Chinese electrolytes from entering the Japanese market. At present,
Jiangsu Cathay and Xinzhoubang have increased their research and development
efforts on formulas. If they can break through Japan's patent blockade and open
up the Japanese market, the market space will grow significantly. Considering
that the current global power lithium batteries are mainly produced in Japan,
breaking through the patent blockade will be even more significant.
Lithium battery electrolyte technology development trends
1. High specific energy electrolyte
The pursuit of high specific energy is currently the biggest research
direction of lithium batteries, especially when mobile devices occupy an
increasing proportion of people's lives, battery life has become the most
critical performance of batteries.
2. High-power electrolyte
At present, it is difficult for commercial lithium batteries to achieve
high-rate continuous discharge. The main reason is that the battery tabs are
seriously heated, and the internal resistance causes the overall temperature of
the battery to be too high, which is prone to thermal runaway. Therefore, an
electrolyte is required that can prevent the battery from heating up too quickly
while maintaining high conductivity. For power batteries, realizing fast
charging is also an important direction for the development of electrolytes.
3. Wide temperature electrolyte
At high temperatures, the battery is prone to electrolyte
self-decomposition and intensified side reactions between materials and
electrolyte parts; while at low temperatures, electrolyte salts may precipitate
and the negative electrode SEI film resistance may double. The so-called
wide-temperature electrolyte allows the battery to have a wider working
environment.
4. Safety electrolyte
The safety of batteries is mainly reflected in combustion or even
explosion. First of all, the battery itself is flammable, so when the battery is
overcharged, overdischarged, short-circuited, when it receives acupuncture and
squeeze from the outside world, when the outside temperature is too high, it
will may cause safety accidents. Therefore, flame retardancy is a main direction
of research on safe electrolytes.
5. Long-circulation electrolyte
Since there are still major technical difficulties in the recycling of
lithium batteries, especially the recycling of power batteries, increasing the
life of the battery is a way to alleviate this situation. There are two main
research ideas for long-circulation electrolytes. One is the stability of the
electrolyte, including thermal stability, chemical stability, and voltage
stability; the other is the stability with other materials, which requires
stable film formation with the electrode. There is no oxidation with the
diaphragm and no corrosion with the current collector.
Future development and improvement direction of lithium battery
electrolyte
The core of lithium battery electrolyte is material purification technology
and formula technology. High purity requirements put forward higher requirements
on the production technology and process control of lithium battery companies.
Lithium batteries are widely used, and lithium batteries with different
technical routes and different application fields will have different
electrolyte requirements. Therefore, electrolyte manufacturers need to
collaborate with downstream customers to develop, thus forming a relatively
stable cooperative relationship. It can be said that every improvement in
lithium battery performance is inseparable from the improvement of electrolyte
to match it.
Improving the voltage and stability of lithium batteries is the future
development direction. In the field of small batteries, high energy density is
emphasized. For electrolytes, increasing the operating voltage to adapt to
higher energy density requirements is the future development direction. At
present, the electrolyte voltage has gradually developed from 4.35 volts to 4.4
volts, and gradually developed to 4.5 volts, 4.75 volts or even 5 volts.
Fluorocarbonate and dinitrile additives are widely used. In the field of large
power batteries, they often work outdoors and have high requirements for high
and low temperature performance. Since lithium hexafluorophosphate has poor
thermal stability and is easily decomposed when heated, stabilizers need to be
added to the electrolyte to improve cycle performance.
Easier said than done, as lithium battery electrolyte has a high hidden
threshold. Based on the above analysis, we believe that the core of lithium
battery electrolyte is the purification process and formula development. The
entry barrier may not seem high, but it is easier said than done. There are not
many manufacturers that make high-quality electrolytes to meet the needs of
international customers. They continue to conduct research and development to
keep up with customers’ increasingly higher performance requirements for
electrolytes, so the industry exists Higher implicit threshold.
With the development of the new energy vehicle market, the demand for power
batteries is very large. We need to stand higher to meet the needs of new energy
vehicles. We must look at the demand for electrolytes from the perspective of
automobiles and have a new understanding of electrolytes. Therefore, it is
recommended that the industry integrate. Existing lithium battery electrolyte
factories and battery factories must be integrated together to meet the battery
needs of new energy vehicles.
Lithium battery electrolyte is one of the four key raw materials of lithium
batteries and has a significant impact on the performance of lithium batteries.
The technical threshold for electrolyte is not high, but the implicit threshold
is higher. In order to solve problems such as battery safety, electrolytes are
also constantly being updated. Lithium battery electrolyte manufacturers should
continue to accelerate their development to meet customer needs.
Read recommendations:
Li-ion 18650 3500mAh 3.7V
How to charge the new battery?
5kwh energy storage battery.12V lithium battery
26650 battery Factory
802540 polymer battery