Li-Metal Corp., a developer of lithium metal anode and lithium metal technologies, has signed a Joint Development and Commercialization Agreement (JD/CA) with Bolloré subsidiary Blue Solutions, the largest producer of solid-state lithium metal batteries.

The JD/CA will help advance the development of Li-Metal’s high-performance low-cost lithium metal anode technologies and Blue Solutions’ solid-state batteries to be used in passenger electric vehicles (EVs). The JD/CA marks a strategic milestone for Li-Metal as it moves toward product testing and qualification, ensuring the adoption of its anode technologies in next-generation batteries.

Blue Solutions is the only manufacturer in the market today producing and selling an all-solid-state lithium metal battery for real-life applications running on every continent, and this JD/CA will further enable Li-Metal to pioneer lithium metal anode technologies in next-generation batteries for the EV industry.

The partnership combines Li-Metal’s high-performance low-cost sustainable lithium anode technologies with the know-how of a proven solid-state battery producer, and together, we will develop next-generation battery anodes that are more cost-effective, have increased performance and are more environmentally sustainable.

—Maciej Jastrzebski, Li-Metal co-founder and CEO

Existing commercial lithium metal production uses the electrolysis of a molten mixture of lithium chloride (45%) and potassium chloride (55%) at 400–450 °C in a low-carbon steel container suspended in a refractory brick chamber, which serves as the negative electrode in the electrolysis cell. The molten salt electrolysis of the chloride mixture is both capital- and energy-intensive, and can be environmentally damaging.

Li-Metal’s patent-pending production process replaces lithium chloride as a raw material with widely-available lithium carbonate—significantly lowering the environmental footprint and cost of lithium metal production.

The successful collaboration between Li-Metal and Blue Solutions is expected to be followed by the construction and operation of a full-scale anode plant, initially capable of producing between 100-300 MWh of anode materials per year in 2023, bringing the Li-Metal closer to commercial readiness.

Blue Solutions develops and produces batteries based on its own unique Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP) technology. Over more than 20 years of R&D and building on its expertise in ultrafine papers, plastic films and capacitors, the Group has developed all-solid-state cells and batteries. These batteries are able to satisfy the requirements of a number of markets and provide viable answers to the two main challenges of the energy transition: the development of clean transport and the smart management of energy.