Epsilon Advanced Materials (EAM) finalized the acquisition from Johnson Matthey of a lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) cathode active material technology center in Moosburg, Germany. With the purchase, Mumbai-based EAM is poised to make India the first country in Asia outside of China to manufacture LFP cathode materials.

Approximately 70% of cathode materials, and 100% of LFP cathode, for lithium-ion batteries are currently produced in China, EAM says.

Epsilon previously announced a $1.1-billion investment for the establishment of an anode battery materials manufacturing facility in Bellari, Karnataka, India. EAM also plans to build a $650-million graphite anode material manufacturing facility in Brunswick County, North Carolina, and is investing €600 million to develop a graphite processing facility in Vaasa, Finland.

We are proud to announce that EAM is now ready to go to market with a proven high-performance cathode active material, marking a significant leap forward in our capabilities. Integrating the cathode expertise from the Moosburg technology center with our anode business uniquely positions us to deliver comprehensive solutions to customers, delivering anode and cathode to empower them to optimize the performance of their batteries.

—EAM CEO Sunit Kapur

LFP cathodes offer a longer life span, improved discharge and charge efficiency, better performance in higher temperatures and is less expensive compared to other cathode materials, such as nickel and cobalt, and it also is maintenance-free, extremely safe and lightweight.

EAM is scheduled to break ground on its facility in India in 2024 to build a large-scale customer qualification plant in 2025, which will scale up to 100,000 tons by 2030.

The Moosburg facility, which employs approximately 25 people in its R&D and operations greatly reduces EAM’s technology development and scale-up timeframe. The center is equipped to produce LFP and lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode in small laboratory-scale batches to up pilot-scale material.

It features a versatile pilot customer qualification plant designed to validate new materials and utilizes a Hydrothermal process that provides a cleaner metal processing solution, which results in a more environmentally friendly battery-metals supply chain.