In 2011, Cabot entered an intellectual property licensing agreement with XG Sciences, Inc. Under the agreement, Cabot licenses intellectual property rights to XG’s xGnP graphene nanoplatelets technology, including detailed know-how regarding the manufacturing process.

Graphene has high electrical and thermal conductivity, and is mechanically strong. It is used as a performance-enhancing material in composites to add strength, stability, electrical and thermal conductivity, and other properties at lower loading levels than traditional materials. Its unique shape and structure provide different application opportunities from standard carbon additives. Specifically, graphene’s unique properties help to balance the overall electronic and ionic conductivity of lithium-ion battery cells that could not be achieved with other carbon additives, the company said.

This new additive is designed to deliver the conductivity needed to achieve very high energy densities in lithium-ion batteries at ultra-low loadings in comparison to conventional additives. Less loading or volume allocated to conductive additives enables more volume to be available for energy storage materials. As a result, the LITX G700 graphene-based additive delivers step change performance in conductivity at ultra-low loadings and is easily incorporated into battery electrodes, according to Cabot.

We recognize that graphenes have the potential to improve performance in a number of applications from advanced batteries to conductive plastics and tires. We see it also leading to new, stronger composite materials. Cabot has made and continues to make investments in graphene technology. This enables us to have a robust platform capability in which to test and further develop graphene materials.

—Yakov Kutsovsky, chief technology officer

LITX products are the first of a new Cabot family of performance additives for advanced batteries designed specifically to solve customer problems at the fundamental particle materials level.