The commercialization of the positive electrode material "Nanolithia ®'' for lithium-ion batteries (lithium manganese phosphate batteries) announced by the Taiheiyo Cement at the end of February 2021 had a surprising impact on the industry, and the company's stock price also rose. It is said that it has been working on development since around 2010. It is the result of extraordinary hard work and effort. The IRUNIVERSE conducted an online interview with the company's Central Research Laboratory about the development process etc.

On March 30, the IRUNIVERSE / MIRU battery team asked Mr. Yasuyuki Ishida, Director of the 3rd Research Department at Taiheiyo Cement, who developed the battery, Mr. Takaaki Ogami, the leader of the resource process team of the same department, and Mr. Hiroki Yamashita about the development process and future production schedule.

IRUNIVERSE (IRU): Could you tell us how Taiheiyo Cement, which mainly manufactures cement, has been able to continue developing LiB positive electrode materials for more than 10 years?

Mr. Ogami of Taiheiyo Cement:The background to the fact that we have been able to continue for more than 10 years as a new material development theme is the technology and powder of the autoclave (high temperature pressure kettle) used in hydrothermal synthesis that we have cultivated originally as our technical strength. It can be mentioned that there were basic technologies such as processing technology. In addition, rare metals such as nickel and cobalt are not used as iron phosphate-based materials, social needs are high in terms of safety, etc., and users are highly evaluated and expected during the course of development research. Several factors, such as what happened, contributed to the continuation of the research. I also think that the fact that the number of members of the development team is eight and the main members have hardly changed is one of the reasons why we were able to continue my motivation.

Mr. Ishida of Taiheiyo Cement:It is important that the company supported us, but since we were involved in the recycling of LiB in advance (since 2011), the amount will continue to increase and LiB worldwide. I knew the growing needs with my skin　sansation. So to speak, the future market growth of batteries has been visible for 10 years, we were able to continue developing positive electrode materials.

IRU: How does it perform compared to iron phosphate?

Mr. Yamashita of Taiheiyo Cement:Voltage: 3.7Volt (ternary level) Weight Energy Density 160wh / kg, Cycle Life is the same as iron phosphate.

IRU:What is the stability of manganese iron phosphate crystals?

Mr. Yamashita of Taiheiyo Cement:Manganese and iron have the same stable crystals as iron phosphate because there is no big difference in atomic size.

IRU:What are your plans for commercialization in near future?

Mr. Ogami of Taiheiyo Cement:A demonstration plant with an annual production capacity of 100 tons will be completed in the first half of 2021. After the commercialization test, we think that the scale of about 10 times is the standard for commercial production machines. In the meantime, we plan to proceed with studies such as business feasibility evaluation.

IRU:Do you already have a supply contract with a battery manufacturer somewhere?

Mr. Ogami of Taiheiyo Cement:At this moment, it's completely free, and we are currently working on users mainly in the domestic market.

◆ After the interview

The lithium iron phosphate battery is a traditional lithium-ion battery developed by Professor John Goodenough, who won the Nobel Prize with Professor Stanley Whittingham from the UK and Professor Akira Yoshino in Japan. Moreover, it is an excellent battery because it does not use nickel or cobalt, which has few resources. Most of them are produced mainly in China and have been put to practical use in EVs.

The future results will have a large impact on the world's largest lithium-ion iron phosphate battery, and the company's production outlook for the next stage is highly expected.

From the results of this interview, we compared the lithium iron phosphate battery with the ternary lithium-ion battery, which is currently the mainstream in Japan.

（IRUNIVERSE / BatteryTeam）