Burnaby’s Nano One has entered into an advanced lithium-ion battery cathode materials coating development agreement with Brazil’s CBMM, the global leader in the production and commercialization of niobium.
Nano One is a clean technology company with a patented low carbon intensity process for the production of low cost, high-performance cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries.
The objective of the agreement is to optimize Nano One’s patented One-Pot process for nickel rich cathode materials using niobium from CBMM as a coating.
Niobium, a rare earth metal, is used in practically everything. Wind turbines, jet engines, airplane bodies, high-pressure pipelines, superconducting magnets, bridges, brake discs, and the steel frames of skyscrapers all become better, tougher, and more lightweight with a bit of niobium added.
Niobium is a key element in the advancement of lithium-ion battery cathode materials as it can be made to form a coating on the outer surface of each grain of a cathode powder.
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As a coating, niobium protects the highly reactive cathode from deleterious side reactions that can cause rapid degradation in high performance batteries while preventing the growth of interfacial resistance during battery cycling.
“Nano One has successfully demonstrated the use of niobium as a coating for various cathode materials and has several related patents now granted and pending,” said Nano One CTO Dr. Stephen Campbell.
“Our One-Pot process enables us to form coatings simultaneously with the underlying cathode material. This avoids extra steps and costs while enabling individual nanocrystals, also known as single crystals, to be coated for increased durability. With the support and partnership of CBMM, we will build on these successes and optimize our One-Pot process for the production of niobium coated nickel rich cathode materials for demanding applications such as electric vehicles.”
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