Nano One Materials Corp. 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. (Earlier post.) Nano One now has entered into an advanced lithium-ion battery cathode materials coating development agreement with CBMM, the global leader in the production and commercialization of niobium products and technologies.

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. Project details and financial contributions are confidential.

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. 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.

—Nano One CTO Dr. Stephen Campbell

Niobium can be made to form a coating on the outer surface of each grain of a cathode powder. 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’s lithium niobate coating is a form of non-flammable ceramic solid-state electrolyte that allows lithium ions to pass through it and into the cathode material during discharge while protecting the cathode from side reactions.

Nano One’s coated nanocrystals have been proven to significantly increase the durability of cathode active materials in lithium-ion batteries, as most recently announced on 16 January and 24 June 2020. The ability to coat without additional steps keeps costs down and is unique to the patented Nano One process.

CBMM has customers in more than 40 countries. With headquarters in Brazil and offices and subsidiaries in China, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States, the company supplies products and technology to the infrastructure, mobility, aerospace and energy sectors. CBMM was founded in 1955 in Araxá, Minas Gerais, and relies on a strong technology program to increase Niobium applications, growing and diversifying this market.