The 21st century is the century of carbon. Compared with other materials and other nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes have a more unique structure and excellent performance, and are called "king of nanomaterials". As a new material, carbon nanotubes have shown great potential application value in the fields of electronics, energy, communications, chemical industry, biology, medicine, aerospace and other fields. At present, carbon nanotubes are mainly used as a new conductive agent in the field of lithium batteries.
1. The application of carbon nanotube industry in the field of lithium batteries
(1) Application analysis of carbon nanotube conductive paste products in the power lithium battery industry
In 2018, the market size of carbon nanotube conductive paste for power lithium batteries in China increased by 30.1% year-on-year. The main reasons for the rapid growth of the market scale are: first, the rapid growth of the downstream power lithium battery market directly drives the increase in demand; followed by high energy density Become the development direction of the power lithium battery market. The output of ternary power lithium batteries in 2018 increased by 118% year-on-year to 41.6GWh, and the new conductive agent of ternary power lithium batteries is mainly based on carbon nanotube conductive paste, so it has become a power lithium battery. The main growth point of conductive paste with carbon nanotubes.
(2) The penetration rate of carbon nanotubes in power lithium batteries continues to increase
With the continuous penetration of carbon nanotube conductive paste in the field of power lithium batteries, it will gradually replace carbon black and become the mainstream conductive agent for power lithium batteries. It is estimated that the penetration rate of China's carbon nanotube conductive paste in the field of power lithium batteries will reach 82.2% in 2023, and the demand for carbon nanotube conductive paste for power lithium batteries will exceed 100,000 tons.
Carbon nanotubes will gradually replace carbon black as the mainstream conductive agent for power lithium batteries
1) Advantages of carbon nanotubes compared with carbon black
Carbon nanotubes can gradually replace carbon black as the mainstream conductive agent for power lithium batteries mainly because it has a better basic performance as a new type of material. Compared with carbon black, carbon nanotubes have better conductivity and achieve the same conductive effect. The amount of carbon nanotubes is only 1/6 ~ 1/2 of carbon black. In addition, carbon nanotubes can maintain good electron and ion conduction during the cycle of the lithium battery, which can greatly increase the cycle life of the lithium battery.
With its high aspect ratio characteristics, carbon nanotubes can further improve the rate performance of lithium batteries compared to carbon black, and can increase the content of positive electrode active materials through a smaller amount of addition, thereby increasing the energy density of lithium batteries.
2) The disadvantages of carbon nanotubes compared with carbon black
The higher price is the main obstacle for carbon nanotubes to replace carbon black as the mainstream conductive agent for power lithium batteries at this stage. Affected by the current high unit price, lithium battery manufacturers still need a gradual acceptance process for using carbon nanotube conductive agents. In the future, with the increasing market acceptance and the popularization of large-scale industrialization, the continued decline in the price of carbon nanotube conductive agent is expected to accelerate the replacement process of carbon nanotubes for carbon black.
2. Demand analysis of power lithium batteries for carbon nanotube conductive paste products
(1) Global market analysis
As countries around the world actively formulate timetables for traditional fuel vehicles, major auto companies around the world have also released new energy vehicle development strategies. Decarbonization and electrification of new energy vehicles will become a comprehensive consensus. Will maintain a high-speed growth trend. The rapid growth of the power lithium battery market will directly drive the rapid growth of the demand for carbon nanotube conductive paste products. In 2018, the global output value of carbon nanotube conductive paste for power lithium batteries increased by 21.2% year-on-year to 880 million yuan. It is estimated that by 2023, the global market value of carbon nanotube conductive paste for power lithium batteries will exceed 4.5 billion yuan, and the compound annual growth rate will reach 40.3% in the next five years. The growth will mainly come from the Chinese market demand and the acceleration of Japan and South Korea power lithium battery companies. The introduction of carbon nanotube conductive paste.
(2) Analysis of the Chinese market
With the implementation of the new policy of subsidies, the energy density requirements for power lithium batteries will become higher and higher, while the energy density bottleneck of power lithium batteries in the traditional system is gradually emerging, and the new power lithium battery system has become the focus of research and development of battery companies. The technical route that has broken through the energy density bottleneck and achieved industrialization is "high nickel positive electrode + silicon-based negative electrode". Due to the relatively poor conductivity of high-nickel ternary cathode materials and silicon-based anode materials, in order to minimize the impact on the energy density and cycle life of power batteries, it is necessary to add more conductive carbon nanotube conductive agent to improve Conductive properties and improved cycle life, thereby accelerating the replacement of traditional conductive agents. In 2018, the output value of the carbon nanotube conductive paste market for power lithium batteries in China increased by 19.1% year-on-year to 850 million yuan. It is estimated that by 2023, the output value of the carbon nanotube conductive paste market for power lithium batteries in China will exceed 3 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 32.0% in the next five years.
3. Analysis of the application of carbon nanotube conductive agent in the lithium battery industry
In overseas markets, traditional conductive agents such as carbon black, conductive graphite and VGCF have been used in lithium batteries for many years, and the technology has been quite mature. Therefore, overseas lithium battery manufacturers still use traditional conductive agents as the mainstay. In recent years, after being recognized by Chinese lithium battery manufacturers, China's carbon nanotube manufacturers are also actively promoting the application of carbon nanotube conductive agents in overseas markets.
In the Chinese market, the current use of carbon nanotube conductive agents for lithium batteries has become a market-recognized and mainstream technical route, which is widely used in power batteries and high-end digital batteries. In the field of power lithium batteries, the penetration rate of carbon nanotube conductive agent has reached 31.8% in 2018.
Since China is currently the world's largest producer of lithium batteries, from a global perspective, the proportion of carbon nanotube conductive agent has also reached a relatively high level.