Lithium ion battery electrolyte is one of the four key raw materials of lithium batteries, is the carrier of ion transport in the battery.
Table of Contents
Electrolyte is the core of lithium battery
Lithium ion battery electrolyte is one of the four key raw materials of lithium batteries, is the carrier of ion transport in the battery, between the cathode materials and lithium ion battery anode to play a role in the conduction of lithium ions, to provide a free deembedding environment for lithium ions, the energy density, specific capacity, operating temperature range, cycle life, safety performance of lithium batteries have an important impact.
From the industry chain, lithium ion battery electrolyte is located in the midstream of the industry chain, and its upstream is mainly basic chemical raw materials, including lithium carbonate, anhydrous hydrofluoric acid, methanol, propylene oxide and so on. The downstream is mainly used in power batteries, 3C consumer batteries and energy storage batteries, and the demand for electrolyte in the three major fields accounted for 70.7%, 16.2% and 13.1% respectively by the first half of 2022.
The lithium ion battery electrolyte accounts for about 10%-15% of the cost of the entire lithium battery. The electrolyte is generally composed of lithium salt, high purity organic solvent, various additives and other raw materials in a certain ratio. Solvent, electrolyte and additives are generally added at 80%, 12% and 5% respectively. By cost, lithium electrolyte salt accounts for about 52.2%, organic solvent accounts for about 31.8%, additives account for about 9.1%, and manufacturing costs are about 6.9%.
The solvent is mainly ethylene carbonate EC and propylene carbonate PC. The solute is the core component of the electrolyte, and its main function is to ensure that there are sufficient lithium ions to realize the charge/discharge cycle during the charging and discharging of the battery. Additives include film-forming additives, flame retardant additives, high and low temperature additives, overcharge protection additives, etc., which are used to regulate the performance of electrolyte.
The three major materials of lithium ion battery electrolyte
Among the three major components of lithium ion battery electrolyte, the solvent does not change much, and the key to improve the performance lies in lithium salt and additives. The lithium salt of electrolyte determines the basic physicochemical properties of electrolyte, and is the most important component of lithium ion battery electrolyte that affects the characteristics of lithium battery.
The lithium salt of electrolyte, additives, and the formulation of electrolyte are the core technology of electrolyte. Depending on the performance requirements, the lithium salt can be a single type of lithium salt, a mixed lithium salt, or another lithium salt as an additive. Power battery electrolyte manufacturers mainly explore new electrolyte lithium salts, additives or adjust the ratio of electrolyte lithium salts, additives, and solvents to make power battery electrolytes with higher specific energy, power, safety, and wider operating temperature.
Solute
In lithium ion battery electrolyte lithium salt solute, lithium hexafluorophosphate has poor thermal stability, easy hydrolysis and other problems, easy to cause rapid decay of battery capacity, easy to absorb moisture decomposition release of harmful gases such as hydrogen fluoride. In the power battery high energy density, high safety needs, can broaden the battery temperature, improve cycle life and safety of the new lithium salt is the future direction of development.
In contrast, LiFSI has better performance than lithium hexafluorophosphate in several aspects, but there are still two key factors limiting its application, one is the high price, and the other is the serious corrosion of the aluminum foil of the cathode collector at high concentration. LiFSI can replace lithium hexafluorophosphate as a new lithium salt and can be used as an additive, but due to its complex process and low yield, resulting in its high cost, it is currently mainly used as an additive for lithium ion battery electrolyte. Therefore, it is expected that LiFSI is difficult to replace lithium hexafluorophosphate on a large scale in the near future.
Solvent
Organic solvent is the medium in lithium ion battery electrolyte, and at present, organic solvent generally refers to carbonate solvent. According to its structure, it is divided into cyclic carbonate organic solvents, chain carbonate organic solvents and ether organic solvents, with various varieties and fierce competition. Generally, lithium ion battery electrolyte solvents are formulated by mixing these carbonate esters to respond to different battery needs of customers.
Additives
Additives are diverse, with VC and FEC accounting for a high market share, occupying more than 60% of the additives market, and are also the focus of vertical industry chain layout by companies. Additives are mainly customized products, which are the key to electrolyte differentiation.
Electrolyte market analysis and competitive landscape
Market analysis
In 2021’s lithium battery industry, the global demand for lithium-ion battery electrolyte grew rapidly, with shipments of 612,000 tons, up 83.2% year-on-year, of which Chinese companies shipped 507,000 tons of lithium-ion battery electrolyte, up 88.5% year-on-year, accounting for 82.8% of global electrolyte shipments. The corresponding market size also expanded rapidly to 34.65 billion RMB, up 354.72% year-on-year.
Upstream raw material electrolyte solute lithium hexafluorophosphate is the most widely used material for electrolyte due to its easy dissociation in electrolyte, high ionic conductivity, simple synthesis process and other advantages, which is essential to enhance the performance of lithium ion battery electrolyte. In recent years, China has accelerated the expansion of lithium hexafluorophosphate production capacity, and the market concentration is high.
Along with the rapid development of new energy vehicles, Chinese companies actively expand production of lithium hexafluorophosphate. 2017-2021, China’s lithium hexafluorophosphate production capacity from 36,200 tons to 95,500 tons, with a CAGR of 27.45%, including 69.03% year-on-year growth in 2021; production increased from 14,200 tons to 54,000 tons.
Lithium ion battery electrolyte solvents include DMC, EMC and so on. Compared with industrial grade solvents, the purity of battery grade solvents requires at least 99.99%. Due to the technical barriers such as high catalyst selection and difficulty in purification, there are fewer enterprises in China that can produce battery grade solvents on a large scale, and the current battery grade solvents market is relatively concentrated.
According to statistics, the concentration of China’s electrolyte industry has been maintained at a high level from 2018-2021, with CR6 of 73.73%, 77.30%, 77%, and 75%, respectively. It is expected that the concentration of lithium ion battery electrolyte industry is expected to further improve in the future, mainly because:
(1) the head enterprises realize part of raw material self-supply through integrated layout and high capacity utilization;
(2) the concentration of downstream battery industry has increased, and the head enterprises of battery and electrolyte cooperate closely, so the concentration of the battery end drives the electrolyte end to increase;
(3) the head enterprises’ capacity gradually released, while the penetration of new materials gradually increased to bring about the improvement of technical barriers to further promote the optimization of the competitive landscape.
Demand estimation
According to the power battery electrolyte consumption of about 1150 tons / GWh, this calculation, corresponding to the estimated 2025 lithium ion battery electrolyte 279.18 million tons, of which China needs 1,565,300 tons.
Supply side
China electrolyte stepped into accelerated production expansion phase since 2019. In terms of production capacity, the electrolyte production capacity in 2021 is 99.99 million tons, up 67.94% y-o-y. The CAGR of China electrolyte production capacity from 2017-2021 is 36.74%. In terms of production, from 2017-2021, China lithium ion battery electrolyte production increased from 119.2 million tons to 479.3 million tons, with a CAGR of 41.61%, including a year-on-year growth of 60.68% in 2021.
In the future, lithium ion battery electrolyte will add more capacity and the industry will become increasingly competitive. According to data, China’s existing electrolyte production capacity is about 1.1 million tons, and is expected to expand to 4.3 million tons by 2024. However, due to the short supply of core raw material lithium hexafluorophosphate, the release of electrolyte production capacity is limited, and the overall start-up rate of electrolyte companies is only 60% at present.
Supply and demand balance analysis
Lithium ion battery electrolyte demand growth mainly from the downstream power batteries, energy storage batteries, consumer batteries three major markets, which power batteries contribute to the main increment, energy storage battery market growth rate can be expected. Electrolyte demand into a rapid growth phase, China lithium ion battery electrolyte plan to add more capacity, the second half of 2022 lithium hexafluoride salt, electrolyte are new capacity release, the supply is no longer tight. In the long term, the gradual release of electrolyte production capacity will provide impetus for the continuous growth of electrolyte output, which is expected to cater to its growing demand and prompt electrolyte prices to maintain reasonable levels.
Regional analysis
From the perspective of regional distribution of production capacity, China lithium ion battery electrolyte production capacity is mainly distributed in South China and East China, with a capacity share of 46.14% and 35.40% respectively. Among them, Tinci and other leading electrolyte companies are located in Guangdong Province, and the existing production capacity in South China mainly comes from the capacity launch of head enterprises.
According to incomplete statistics on the current future plans of China lithium ion battery electrolyte manufacturers’ production capacity, although there is no production capacity of major electrolyte companies in the southwest and northwest regions for the time being, thanks to the rapid development of the power battery industry in Sichuan Province, it is expected that the electrolyte production capacity in the southwest region is expected to increase by leaps and bounds in the next few years and jump to the second place in the Chinese region. Here are top 10 lithium ion battery electrolyte manufacturer in China.
Up to now, Sichuan Province has attracted CATL, Svolt, EVE, CALB, Sunwoda and other power battery head enterprises to land, with production capacity planning over 350GWh, which has strongly promoted the development of power battery upstream supporting enterprises and attracted many electrolyte companies to layout and expand production in the southwest region in order to be close to the main customer groups.
Lithium ion battery electrolyte industry research
Lithium ion battery electrolyte is one of the four key raw materials of lithium batteries, is the carrier of ion transport in the battery.
Electrolyte is the core of lithium battery
Lithium ion battery electrolyte is one of the four key raw materials of lithium batteries, is the carrier of ion transport in the battery, between the cathode materials and lithium ion battery anode to play a role in the conduction of lithium ions, to provide a free deembedding environment for lithium ions, the energy density, specific capacity, operating temperature range, cycle life, safety performance of lithium batteries have an important impact.
From the industry chain, lithium ion battery electrolyte is located in the midstream of the industry chain, and its upstream is mainly basic chemical raw materials, including lithium carbonate, anhydrous hydrofluoric acid, methanol, propylene oxide and so on. The downstream is mainly used in power batteries, 3C consumer batteries and energy storage batteries, and the demand for electrolyte in the three major fields accounted for 70.7%, 16.2% and 13.1% respectively by the first half of 2022.
The lithium ion battery electrolyte accounts for about 10%-15% of the cost of the entire lithium battery. The electrolyte is generally composed of lithium salt, high purity organic solvent, various additives and other raw materials in a certain ratio. Solvent, electrolyte and additives are generally added at 80%, 12% and 5% respectively. By cost, lithium electrolyte salt accounts for about 52.2%, organic solvent accounts for about 31.8%, additives account for about 9.1%, and manufacturing costs are about 6.9%.
The solvent is mainly ethylene carbonate EC and propylene carbonate PC. The solute is the core component of the electrolyte, and its main function is to ensure that there are sufficient lithium ions to realize the charge/discharge cycle during the charging and discharging of the battery. Additives include film-forming additives, flame retardant additives, high and low temperature additives, overcharge protection additives, etc., which are used to regulate the performance of electrolyte.
The three major materials of lithium ion battery electrolyte
Among the three major components of lithium ion battery electrolyte, the solvent does not change much, and the key to improve the performance lies in lithium salt and additives. The lithium salt of electrolyte determines the basic physicochemical properties of electrolyte, and is the most important component of lithium ion battery electrolyte that affects the characteristics of lithium battery.
The lithium salt of electrolyte, additives, and the formulation of electrolyte are the core technology of electrolyte. Depending on the performance requirements, the lithium salt can be a single type of lithium salt, a mixed lithium salt, or another lithium salt as an additive. Power battery electrolyte manufacturers mainly explore new electrolyte lithium salts, additives or adjust the ratio of electrolyte lithium salts, additives, and solvents to make power battery electrolytes with higher specific energy, power, safety, and wider operating temperature.
Solute
In lithium ion battery electrolyte lithium salt solute, lithium hexafluorophosphate has poor thermal stability, easy hydrolysis and other problems, easy to cause rapid decay of battery capacity, easy to absorb moisture decomposition release of harmful gases such as hydrogen fluoride. In the power battery high energy density, high safety needs, can broaden the battery temperature, improve cycle life and safety of the new lithium salt is the future direction of development.
In contrast, LiFSI has better performance than lithium hexafluorophosphate in several aspects, but there are still two key factors limiting its application, one is the high price, and the other is the serious corrosion of the aluminum foil of the cathode collector at high concentration. LiFSI can replace lithium hexafluorophosphate as a new lithium salt and can be used as an additive, but due to its complex process and low yield, resulting in its high cost, it is currently mainly used as an additive for lithium ion battery electrolyte. Therefore, it is expected that LiFSI is difficult to replace lithium hexafluorophosphate on a large scale in the near future.
Solvent
Organic solvent is the medium in lithium ion battery electrolyte, and at present, organic solvent generally refers to carbonate solvent. According to its structure, it is divided into cyclic carbonate organic solvents, chain carbonate organic solvents and ether organic solvents, with various varieties and fierce competition. Generally, lithium ion battery electrolyte solvents are formulated by mixing these carbonate esters to respond to different battery needs of customers.
Additives
Additives are diverse, with VC and FEC accounting for a high market share, occupying more than 60% of the additives market, and are also the focus of vertical industry chain layout by companies. Additives are mainly customized products, which are the key to electrolyte differentiation.
Electrolyte market analysis and competitive landscape
Market analysis
In 2021’s lithium battery industry, the global demand for lithium-ion battery electrolyte grew rapidly, with shipments of 612,000 tons, up 83.2% year-on-year, of which Chinese companies shipped 507,000 tons of lithium-ion battery electrolyte, up 88.5% year-on-year, accounting for 82.8% of global electrolyte shipments. The corresponding market size also expanded rapidly to 34.65 billion RMB, up 354.72% year-on-year.
Upstream raw material electrolyte solute lithium hexafluorophosphate is the most widely used material for electrolyte due to its easy dissociation in electrolyte, high ionic conductivity, simple synthesis process and other advantages, which is essential to enhance the performance of lithium ion battery electrolyte. In recent years, China has accelerated the expansion of lithium hexafluorophosphate production capacity, and the market concentration is high.
Along with the rapid development of new energy vehicles, Chinese companies actively expand production of lithium hexafluorophosphate. 2017-2021, China’s lithium hexafluorophosphate production capacity from 36,200 tons to 95,500 tons, with a CAGR of 27.45%, including 69.03% year-on-year growth in 2021; production increased from 14,200 tons to 54,000 tons.
Lithium ion battery electrolyte solvents include DMC, EMC and so on. Compared with industrial grade solvents, the purity of battery grade solvents requires at least 99.99%. Due to the technical barriers such as high catalyst selection and difficulty in purification, there are fewer enterprises in China that can produce battery grade solvents on a large scale, and the current battery grade solvents market is relatively concentrated.
According to statistics, the concentration of China’s electrolyte industry has been maintained at a high level from 2018-2021, with CR6 of 73.73%, 77.30%, 77%, and 75%, respectively. It is expected that the concentration of lithium ion battery electrolyte industry is expected to further improve in the future, mainly because:
(1) the head enterprises realize part of raw material self-supply through integrated layout and high capacity utilization;
(2) the concentration of downstream battery industry has increased, and the head enterprises of battery and electrolyte cooperate closely, so the concentration of the battery end drives the electrolyte end to increase;
(3) the head enterprises’ capacity gradually released, while the penetration of new materials gradually increased to bring about the improvement of technical barriers to further promote the optimization of the competitive landscape.
Demand estimation
According to the power battery electrolyte consumption of about 1150 tons / GWh, this calculation, corresponding to the estimated 2025 lithium ion battery electrolyte 279.18 million tons, of which China needs 1,565,300 tons.
Supply side
China electrolyte stepped into accelerated production expansion phase since 2019. In terms of production capacity, the electrolyte production capacity in 2021 is 99.99 million tons, up 67.94% y-o-y. The CAGR of China electrolyte production capacity from 2017-2021 is 36.74%. In terms of production, from 2017-2021, China lithium ion battery electrolyte production increased from 119.2 million tons to 479.3 million tons, with a CAGR of 41.61%, including a year-on-year growth of 60.68% in 2021.
In the future, lithium ion battery electrolyte will add more capacity and the industry will become increasingly competitive. According to data, China’s existing electrolyte production capacity is about 1.1 million tons, and is expected to expand to 4.3 million tons by 2024. However, due to the short supply of core raw material lithium hexafluorophosphate, the release of electrolyte production capacity is limited, and the overall start-up rate of electrolyte companies is only 60% at present.
Supply and demand balance analysis
Lithium ion battery electrolyte demand growth mainly from the downstream power batteries, energy storage batteries, consumer batteries three major markets, which power batteries contribute to the main increment, energy storage battery market growth rate can be expected. Electrolyte demand into a rapid growth phase, China lithium ion battery electrolyte plan to add more capacity, the second half of 2022 lithium hexafluoride salt, electrolyte are new capacity release, the supply is no longer tight. In the long term, the gradual release of electrolyte production capacity will provide impetus for the continuous growth of electrolyte output, which is expected to cater to its growing demand and prompt electrolyte prices to maintain reasonable levels.
Regional analysis
From the perspective of regional distribution of production capacity, China lithium ion battery electrolyte production capacity is mainly distributed in South China and East China, with a capacity share of 46.14% and 35.40% respectively. Among them, Tinci and other leading electrolyte companies are located in Guangdong Province, and the existing production capacity in South China mainly comes from the capacity launch of head enterprises.
According to incomplete statistics on the current future plans of China lithium ion battery electrolyte manufacturers’ production capacity, although there is no production capacity of major electrolyte companies in the southwest and northwest regions for the time being, thanks to the rapid development of the power battery industry in Sichuan Province, it is expected that the electrolyte production capacity in the southwest region is expected to increase by leaps and bounds in the next few years and jump to the second place in the Chinese region. Here are top 10 lithium ion battery electrolyte manufacturer in China.
Up to now, Sichuan Province has attracted CATL, Svolt, EVE, CALB, Sunwoda and other power battery head enterprises to land, with production capacity planning over 350GWh, which has strongly promoted the development of power battery upstream supporting enterprises and attracted many electrolyte companies to layout and expand production in the southwest region in order to be close to the main customer groups.