Highly conductive materials for batteries are expensive, and are often in limited supply. For this reason, battery manufacturers coat metal foils with thin layers of critical materials. Traditionally speaking, they use solvents in the form of wet coatings, followed by an expensive drying process. For this reason, dry coating battery electrodes should take over in future.
Why Should Manufacturers Dry Coat Battery Electrodes?
Commercial batteries currently all have two electrodes and an electrolyte, although that could change in future. The materials constituting these three elements influence battery cost and energy storage capacity.
American battery maker Tesla has applied dry coating to its anodes since 2020. However, it has not managed to dry coat both battery electrodes yet, according to Microsoft Start. Let’s compare these two processes:
- Wet coating battery electrodes begins with dissolving chemically-active materials in solvents. Drying these in ovens at up to 200 ºC (400 ºF) is energy-intensive, expensive, and takes time.
- Dry coating battery electrodes is a far more efficient process by contrast. Eliminating drying ovens and solvent recovery plants reduces equipment and energy cost, as well as factory floor space.
However notwithstanding this, dry coating cathodes has proved elusive. Although the Durr.Com website none the less predicts that up to 40% of North American and European anodes and cathodes will be dry coated by 2030.
Korean Battery Maker LG Appears to Steal a March
Microsoft Start reports that Korean battery maker LG has ‘unlocked new technology’ that it plans to commercialize by 2028. We understand that this allows it to dry coat both anodes and cathodes.
This could become a significant development, as the world searches for less-expensive, more environmentally-friendly batteries.
However, LG may already have Tesla and Samsung SDI hot on its heels with related technology, Microsoft Start warns. That’s because dual dry coating battery electrodes could be a game-changer in the electric vehicle market.
LG Chem has already begun building a cathode plant in Clarksville, Tennessee. But how will Chinese battery makers respond to this new challenge?
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Dry Coating Active Battery Materials at VW
