Evonik investing in fumed aluminum oxide production plant expansion in Japan for battery applications
28 February 2023
Evonik is investing in a production plant expansion for fumed aluminum oxide at its site in Yokkaichi, Japan. The facility will be the company’s first alumina plant in Asia, focusing on the production of specialty solutions for lithium-ion battery technologies, used for electric vehicles.
Evonik’s AEROXIDE, an aluminum oxide for ultra-thin separator coatings for the next generation lithium-ion batteries, enables longer mileage for electrical vehicles. It also improves safe usage and fast charging of batteries.
AEROXIDE fumed alumina and fumed titania are produced by flame hydrolysis and consist of nanostructured aggregates with mean aggregate sizes of approximately 100 nm. The white powder provides a very narrow particle size distribution and exhibits high chemical purity.
As dry coating on the surface of cathode materials, AEROXIDE acts as a defined cathode electrolyte interface (CEI). It prevents undesired reactions and makes batteries last longer. This increases the service life of a Li-ion battery by around 50%, resulting in carbon dioxide savings of ~10 tons CO2 per kg AEROXIDE. If all EV cars used batteries with AEROXIDE by 2025, around 90,000 t of CO2 could be saved, according to the company.
Applications of AEROXIDE in Li-ion batteries includes:
Protective dry coating for cathode materials
High performance LIB separator coating
Nanostructured ceramic fillers inside separators
Additive for electrolyte immobilization (gel polymer type)
Yokkaichi plant
Evonik will spend a mid-double-digit million euro investment, starting the construction in summer 2023. The expansion is scheduled to become operational in 2025, creating additional jobs in the region. The investment is supported by funds from the Japanese government.
Evonik’s strategic transformation targets investments in green growth and to make sustainability a core innovation driver. By 2030, Evonik aims to invest more than €3 billion in Next Generation Solutions.
One of these are our solutions for battery technologies for electric vehicles, coming from the Smart Materials Division. By the investment in this Next Generation Solutions, Evonik supports the battery industry and customer growth particular in Asia by providing more sustainable and highly-innovative solutions.
—Lauren Kjeldsen, President of the Smart Material Division
Asia is the growing region for new generations of batteries in electric vehicles and powder coating.
With this expansion investment, we further commit to accelerated growth in the lithium-ion-battery market and secure regional supply for all customers located in the fast growing battery markets of China, Japan, and Korea.
—Susanne Reinhart, Regional Head APAC of Business Line Silica
The Yokkaichi team has long experience in fumed oxide production processes. For more than 50 years, the site has been operating in a Joint Venture of Evonik and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation and serves as production hub for a broad range of fumed oxides. The facility in Japan was identified as viable and safe location, with favorable logistics to the markets of China, Japan, and Korea. The investment underlines Evonik’s commitment to Japan and ensures high supply reliability to Asia.
Over the past years, Evonik continuously invested in modern silica production updates and strategic acquisitions around the globe to further enhance the business. The fumed aluminum oxide production expansion is part of a network of eight fumed oxide production sites globally and a key milestone of the strategic growth plan on specialty applications.
Evonik is a leading global manufacturer of silica. In addition to the fumed silica AEROSIL and the precipitated silica ULTRASIL, SIPERNAT, ZEODENT and SPHERILEX, Evonik also produces silica-based matting agents under the ACEMATT brand name and other fumed metal oxides under the brand AEROXIDE.
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