The hot summer in the northern hemisphere is approaching, and highways, urban roads, and roads around tourist attractions will become very crowded. In addition, nitric oxide and carbon dioxide produced by people's daily travel also have a negative impact on air quality and the environment. By 2025, 1.5 billion cars are expected to be on the road. Dr. Bo Mule, Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Technology Officer of BASF Europe, said: “The growing demand for travel brings challenges, but also provides a broad space to meet the challenges and develop innovative technologies.
BASF, the world's leading chemical company, provides solutions for the automotive industry including mobile emission catalysts, coating systems, high-performance plastics and fuel additives. Since the introduction of catalytic converters in 1973, BASF catalyst technology has helped reduce emissions of more than 1 billion tons of pollutants. BASF has been and will continue to work to improve global air quality. The continued development of advanced emission control technologies and the continued growth in demand for electric vehicles will help reduce emissions and improve air quality worldwide. Efficient, low battery storage costs will be key to the commercial success of electric vehicles. These are inseparable from chemistry.
Researchers at BASF Ludwigshafen are examining a "precursor" that will be used in lithium-ion battery anode materials
Battery Material Driven Changes
Today's electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries. The positive active material is one of the most important components of a battery. They determine the efficiency, reliability, cost, life, and size of the battery. Whether it is a small car or SUV, bus or truck, the characteristics of the positive electrode active material determine the speed, acceleration performance and power of the vehicle. "BASF positive active materials make batteries more robust, reliable and economical. They offer the greatest possibilities for 'higher performance, lower cost'. This is where chemistry can stimulate the best innovation, There is great value, "Bo Mule explained.
Researchers at BASF Shanghai Innovation Park are loading small test batteries into the atmosphere warehouse; these test batteries will provide accurate data to support the study of battery life in electric vehicles
Research and development of future positive active materials
BASF researchers are working to improve the efficiency and performance of positive electrode active materials by upgrading chemical formula, morphology (shape and structure) and production processes to meet the growing demand for electric mobility. Through various innovative technologies, BASF expects to introduce to the market the highest energy density positive active material. It is expected that by 2025, these efforts will help realize the vision of medium-sized electric vehicles: doubling the mileage (from 300 km to 600 km on a single charge), doubling the battery life, reducing battery cost and size by half, The single charge time is reduced to 15 minutes. BASF expects the market size of lithium-ion batteries to grow rapidly.
To make small test cells, researchers apply positive electrode material slurry on aluminum foil. After drying and compacting, it will become the cathode material for lithium ion batteries.
BASF's battery materials portfolio includes nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) oxides and nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) oxides. BASF's battery materials research and development centers are close to customers. They are located in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Beechwood, Ohio; USA; Shanghai, China; The close distribution of customers allows BASF researchers to better understand customer expectations and market needs. BASF works with leading scientists, start-ups and universities in the world to continuously improve its research and development capabilities.
Key components for making powerful battery materials: positive electrode active material precursors (green powder and brown powder), lithium carbonate (white powder), and positive electrode material (black powder)
As part of BASF's global electrochemical and battery business, BASF also innovates and improves materials through cooperation with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Battery and Electrochemical Laboratory (BELLA), which was jointly established by both parties. In addition to cooperating with several scientific research institutions and private enterprise partners, BASF has also participated in a number of projects supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
Scanning electron microscope image of lithium nickel oxide, which is a component in the manufacture of high-energy cathode materials
Looking Globally, Locally
As a strong competitor in the battery materials market, BASF has deployed pilot line projects and production facilities on all major continents around the world-Ludwigshafen, Germany, Ilia, Ohio and Beechwood, Ohio, and Battle Creek, Michigan Sato, and Onoda and Kitakyushu, Japan. BASF provides battery anode materials for the world's leading automotive OEM production platforms. In 2017, BASF successfully achieved capacity expansion in Asia, strengthened its business layout in the United States, and announced its intention to increase production capacity in Europe.
BASF and Toda Industries set up BASF Toda America Co., Ltd. in North America. The company will produce and sell high-energy nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) in Illinois and Battle Creek, Michigan. )material. This cooperation enables BASF to achieve strategic supply and production of innovative cathode materials in North America to meet the needs of key customers worldwide. In Japan, BASF Toda Battery Materials Co., Ltd., which was co-founded by BASF and Toda Industries, has also successfully increased the production capacity of its Onoda device in Japan.
BASF is launching a new promotional campaign to promote the company's innovative technologies in the field of battery materials. These technologies can help reduce the cost of electric vehicles, making them affordable and practical automotive products for everyone. In order to better express its optimism about the vision of future life, BASF recently launched a micro-documentary "Let's see the future all the way", telling the true story of a Chinese-American family living in two very congested cities-Shanghai and Los Angeles. .