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:

Coin Battery CR 1130

g the power of lithium iron phosphate battery.convenient energy storage power supply Manufacturing

The Best Choice for Portable Power Supplies

lithium battery 18650 3.7v

18650 battery pack maker