3M and LG Chem Sign NCM Patent Deal for 500 km Battery...

3M and LG Chem Sign NCM Patent Deal for 500 km Battery

http://www.electric-vehiclenews.com/2015/08/3m-and-lg-chem-complete-ncm-patent.html

http://www.electric-vehiclenews.com/

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3M and LG Chem have entered into a patent license agreement to further expand the use of nickel, cobalt, manganese (NCM) in lithium ion batteries. Under the agreement, 3M grants LG Chem a license to U.S. Patents 6,660,432, 6,964,828, 7,078,128, 8,685,565 and 8,241,791 and all global equivalents including in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China and Europe.

NCM cathode compositions offer an outstanding balance of power, energy, thermal stability and low cost. NCM cathode materials can be tailored through changes in composition and morphology to meet a wide range of customer requirements from high-energy handheld consumer electronics to high-power electric vehicles.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with 3M,” said Kyunghwa Min, vice president of LG Chem IP Center. “This license will give our battery customers confidence in LG’s technology and our long-term commitment to the battery industry. The license also opens the door to new opportunities for LG Chem as a supplier of cathode materials to the battery industry.”

“LG Chem is a leader in the electric vehicle battery field, and NCM cathode compositions have shown significant benefit in large format applications, like electric vehicles,” said Christian Milker, business manager, 3M Electronics Materials Solutions Division.

“This license will accelerate the adoption of NCM technology to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles worldwide.”

LG Chem plans to offer the new cell chemistry as the foundation for an affordable electric car with a 320 km (200-mile) driving range by 2017. The company, which currently makes lithium-ion batteries based on a manganese spinel chemistry for Chevy, Ford, Hyundai, and Renault, said the next-generation technology would boost energy while reducing cost.

LG Chem says it would begin to offer large capacity lithium-ion batteries that hold between 80 and 120 kWh targeting a single charge range of 300-500 km. Such long-range EVs have the potential to dramatically shake up the electric-car landscape and appeal to a larger audience.

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New Graphene Tech Could Double Lithium-ion Battery Lifespan

http://investingnews.com/daily/reso...-tesla/?nameplate_category=Graphene Investing



New research in the battery space could help lithium-ion batteries last a whole lot longer. A group of researchers, many of whom are affiliated with Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930), have developed technology that could double the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries.

According to a paper published in the journal Nature Communications (the online-only, open-access version of Nature), researchers saw the energy density of lithium-ion batteries increase with the use of graphene-coated silicon anodes.

Specifically, when paired with a commercial lithium-cobalt-oxide cathode, the silicon-graphene anode helped batteries reach energy densities 1.5 to 1.8 times higher than current commercial lithium-ion batteries.

To be sure, silicon anodes have been problematic for battery researchers and manufacturers. They’ve been discussed for quite some time, and are certainly better at holding a charge than graphite. However, they tend to expand a lot when charged.

As PCWorld notes, silicon anodes can expand by as much as 400 percent, which is problematic for battery manufacturers trying to make batteries smaller. Also, all that expansion and contraction helps silicon anodes break down faster.

The solution to the problem, according to Samsung researchers, is graphene. Thin layers of the material grown on the surface of silicon anodes help work against the expansion, although they also “accommodate the volume expansion of silicon via a sliding process between adjacent graphene layers.”

What does that mean for graphite investors? For now, not much. While the news is exciting, it’s important to remember that the technology is still very early stage. Plenty of news outlets have pointed out that it could take years before the research gets translated into something that’s commercially viable.

Indeed, Simon Moores of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence recently told the Investing News Network that he’s heard of the concept of graphene-coated anodes being used to limit the expansion of silicon on charging, but added that’s just “one of many hurdles” that silicon anodes need to overcome.

Still, it’s interesting to see so much attention being paid to lithium-ion battery research as of late. Monday’s news follows a number of other battery-related announcements — Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) recently announced plans to work with lithium-ion battery researcher Jeff Dahn to lower the cost of its batteries, while MIT reported a new approach to manufacturing that could halve the cost of lithium-ion batteries.

Extensive research into batteries isn’t anything new, of course, but the recent news in the space does highlight the importance of lithium-ion batteries in our daily lives. In turn, that sheds more light on the critical metals needed to make those batteries.

In any case, while silicon-based anodes may still be a few years away from commercial possibility, the authors of the paper hope their work will “serve as a prototype in advancing silicon anodes to commercially viable technology.” Graphite investors will no doubt be keeping an eye out for any changes on that front.

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I would like to see MRL Corporation release a Report on ORE into GRAPHENE and Batteries...

Doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations with the Drastically low Capex and Opex and the Peer Comparison including Flakers tells me of a massive disparity and inefficiency...


I wonder how long will this massive Imbalance last?

I would like an Independent Peer Comparison commissioned by MRL Corporation because the only one we have on the market is the BBR Report. I think the results would be shocking and fun.


MRL Corporation can afford to be aggressive I think because the Demand is there to justify it. The Key is having enough assets to make a steady supply to End-users in my opinion. Particularly Batteries.




Kind Regards

To Make Mistakes is Easy !!!
Could be 100% Wrong !!!
To Err is Human !!!
DYOR !!!