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German chemicals firm BASF and lithium-ion battery maker SVOLT— a spin out from China’s vehicle OEM Great Wall Motors— have formed a cradle-to-grave partnership.

The agreement will see both parties, throughout their global operations, work together on cathode active materials (CAM) development, raw materials supply and battery recycling for SVOLT’s battery cells.

The cooperation will also enhance the research and development (R&D) capabilities for both companies in sustainable battery materials and strengthen both parties’ core competitiveness in the Chinese battery market and globally.

Both companies will also assess joint upstream resourcing to strengthen the security of raw material supply.

Dr. Peter Schuhmacher, president, catalysts division at BASF, said the strategic partnership would boost his firm’s position in the battery materials market.

BASF has established a position in the CAM market including a global manufacturing and R&D footprint, and a portfolio of mid- to high-nickel, manganese-rich, cobalt-free CAM.

SVOLT has seven global R&D centres in: China (Wuxi, Baoding, Shanghai and Shenzhen) Japan, Korea and India.

It manufactures cobalt-free batteries, solid-state batteries, with automotive-grade AI intelligent manufacturing, using its high-speed stacking technology.

Chemicals giant BASF is set to build a battery recycling prototype plant in Germany to extract key materials from end-of-life lithium-ion cells and production scrap.

The plant at BASF’s cathode active materials (CAM) plant site in Schwarzheide is scheduled to be commissioned by 2023.

The prototype plant will allow for the “development of operational procedures and optimisation” of technology to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese from used batteries as well as off spec material from cell producers and battery material producers.

The recovered metals will be used to manufacturer cathode active materials.

Dr. Matthias Dohrn, senior vice president, precious and base metal services at BASF, said: “With this battery recycling, plus leading process technology for manufacturing of cathode active materials, we aim to ‘close the loop’ while reducing the CO₂ footprint of our cathode active materials by up to 60% in total compared to industry standards.”

The plant’s location was announced in February.

Aggressive cathode expansion

In June, BASF is set to form a joint venture (JV) with Hunan Shanshan Energy to produce lithium-ion battery cathode active materials (CAM) and precursors (PCAM) in China.

German firm BASF will have a 51% share of the JV when it closes later this summer following the approval of the relevant authorities.

In May, materials firm Umicore and BASF entered into a non-exclusive patent cross-license agreement covering a range of lithium-ion cathode materials and their precursors.

Chemical company BASF is set to form a joint venture with Hunan Shanshan Energy to produce lithium-ion battery cathode active materials (CAM) and precursors (PCAM) in China.

German firm BASF will have a 51% share of the JV when it closes later this summer following the approval of the relevant authorities.

BASF hopes the intended joint venture will strengthen its position in Asia as it looks to build an integrated, global supply chain for customers in China and worldwide.

The company aims to increase its annual CAM capacity to 160 kilotons by 2022 with further expansion underway.   

Chinese firm Hunan’s product portfolio covers the main categories of the CAM and the corresponding PCAM used in lithium-ion batteries.

Hunan’s business value chain includes: raw materials, PCAM, CAM and battery recycling, and operates four production sites for CAM and PCAM in Hunan and Ningxia, China, with an expected annual capacity of 90 kilotons by 2022.

Training of artisanal miners has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of a cross-industry initiative to develop an independent, ethical and sustainable cobalt supply for the lithium-ion battery industry.

Training of twelve artisanal mining cooperatives involving more than 1,500 miners in Kolwezi, DRC, begun last month as part of the ‘Cobalt for Development’ initiative launched by vehicle OEM BMW and lithium-ion battery makers Samsung and BASF.

Redox flow battery firm JenaBatteries is cooperating with BASF to develop an electrolyte that can be used in grid-scale energy storage systems.

The German firms announced on 6 February they would produce an electrolyte that is suitable for use in a large-scale system for storing renewable energy.