Tokyo, Japan—Toyocolor, the colorants and functional materials division of the artience group (formerly Toyo Ink Group of Japan), announced today that its LIOACCUM™ conductive carbon nanotubes (CNT) dispersions manufactured have been adopted as a conductive additive for use in lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) produced by Primearth EV Energy Co., Ltd. (PEVE). PEVE is an automotive battery manufacturer established in 1996 as a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and Matsushita Electric Industrial(now Panasonic Holdings).
Shipments of PEVE’s LiBs containing LIOACCUM dispersions have started in Japan for installation in hybrid vehicles manufactured by Toyota Motor Corporation. In conjunction with this development, Toyocolor is expanding its dispersions production base at its Fuji Plant in Fuji City (Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan) to bolster its production capacity.
Toyocolor has been supplying carbon dispersions for LiB cathode materials since 2015, building a solid track record as a battery material manufacturer. LiB cathodes are mainly composed of an active material, a conductive additive and a binder. (see illustration) Toyocolor, by applying its proprietary additives and dispersion manufacturing methods, could replace carbon black with CNT as the conductive additive, needing only a small amount of the additive to realize conductive performance. This breakthrough dramatically reduced the resistance value of lithium-ion battery cathodes, while significantly increasing CNT dispersibility and conductivity.
Less additive usage not only translates into reduced material costs for battery manufacture, but also means more cathode cell space to insert active material. This, in turn, helps to extend the cruising range of hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and electric vehicles, while improving charging speeds.
