Lithium Australia’s subsidiary VSPC has been granted Australian patent for the production of nickel- and cobalt-free battery cathode powders.
The patent has been granted for the VSPC process entitled ‘Method for making lithium metal phosphates’ and will provide the company with 20 years of intellectual property (IP) protection in Australia.
VSPC has spent 20 years researching and developing its nanotechnology processes and the past 14 years on applying those processes to next-generation cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).
Over the past two years, the company has simplified and adapted certain elements of its
proprietary nanotechnology to enable its use of a broader range of raw materials, hence the granting of this patent.
Lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) and lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) are both phosphate-based cathode active materials that can be manufactured using VSPC’s patented process, which provides potential for significant reductions in production cost.
Both LFP and LMFP cathode powders outperform nickel-based battery cathode materials in terms of safety, production cost and chemical stability and offer a longer service life.
VSPC, which recently dispatched samples of its LMFP to battery manufacturers in South Korea, Japan and China, is working with Chinese technology company SDL on a staged plan to commercialise production of its LFP cathode products, ideally suited for transport and energy-storage applications.
