A carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) polymer targeted specifically for the lithium-ion battery market is being shipped to customers for the first time by Netherlands’ firm Nouryon.
The company’s AkuPure™ allows battery manufacturers to improve the anode coating process. Its key properties in battery production process include the speed at which it dissolves and its low level of insolubles.
CMC is a sustainable polymer derived from cellulose sources such as wood or cotton that is used as a thickener, binder and rheology modifier. They are specifically suited for aqueous binder systems in lithium-ion battery anodes that are used typically in combination with graphite and Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) in anode coating to improve binding strength of active graphite on the copper collector.
Geert-Jan Beijering, product director at Nouryon, said: “Customers in the battery market require ultra-pure CMC because impurities can interfere with the performance of the battery or with production efficiency.”
Nouryon recently announced plans to acquire the CMC business of J.M. Huber Corporation to broaden its portfolio of CMC products.