Lithium-ion battery is currently the batteries product with the best comprehensive performance, and it is also the batteries product with the widest application range. Lithium-ion batteries are composed of cathode, anode, electrolyte, separator and other parts. Among them, the cathode materials are the source of lithium ions, which determines the performance of lithium-ion batteries, directly determines the energy density and safety of the batteries, and then affects the overall performance of the batteries.
Table of Contents
The development of cathode materials and technological breakthroughs are of great significance to the lithium-ion batteries industry. This article focuses on exploring LMFP, a new type of cathode material, to understand the development overview and market space of LMFP and other related information, and on this basis, to clarify the overall future development trend of lithium manganese iron phosphate.
Overview of LMFP
LMFP is considered an upgraded version of LFP in the industry, and it is a currently relatively feasible LFP upgrade solution. This solution is to dope a certain amount of manganese on the basis of LFP and adjust the ratio of its atomic number to iron to increase the voltage platform of the material. LMFP is an upgraded product of LFP. It has similar properties to LFP and LMFP.
It has better thermal stability, chemical stability and economy than ternary materials, and at the same time has a higher energy density than LFP. At present, the energy density of LFP, the mainstream cathode material in the market, has almost reached the upper limit, and LMFP is expected to break the bottleneck. The energy density of LFP batteries is as high as 161.27Wh/kg, and has not changed much in recent years, so LMFP has developed.
The theoretical gram capacity of LFP batteries is 170mAh/g, which has almost reached the limit at present, so increasing the voltage platform is the decisive factor for increasing energy density. The high-voltage characteristics of manganese in LMFP make LMFP have a higher voltage platform than LFP, which can break the current upper limit of batteries energy density.
LMFP development advantages
● Compared with ternary materials, LMFP has low cost, high cycle and high stability
Compared with ternary materials, LMFP has lower cost, higher cycle times and more stable structure. The main raw materials of ternary materials include cobalt, nickel and manganese, while the main elements of LMFP are manganese and iron.
According to data disclosure, the market price of cobalt and nickel is much higher than that of manganese, so the cost of ternary materials will be higher than that of LMFP. In addition, the cycle life of LMFP is as high as 2000 times, while the cycle life of ternary materials is only between 800 and 2000 times, and the gap is obvious.
From the structural point of view, compared with the ternary materials with layered structure, LMFP with olivine structure will be more stable during charging and discharging. Even if all lithium ions are released during charging, there will be no problem of structural collapse. At the same time, P atoms in LMFP form PO4 tetrahedrons through P-O strong covalent bonds, and O atoms are difficult to escape from the structure, which also makes LMFP have high safety and stability.
● Compared with LFP, LMFP has prominent advantages in high pressure and low temperature
Compared with LPF lithium, LMFP has high voltage, high energy density and better low temperature performance. LMFP and LFP have the same theoretical capacity, but the voltage platform of LFP is only 3.4V, while LMFP can reach up to 4.1V, and it is located in the stable electrochemical window of the organic electrolyte system, which also makes LMFP have a higher upper limit of energy density. Moreover, when the actual capacity of LMFP is the same as that of LFP, the energy density of LMFP can be increased by 15% compared with lithium iron phosphate.
● LMFP development meets economy
At present, batteries factories and cathode factories are more eager for solutions that can increase energy density from a technical level. Due to the problems of LMFP performance and production difficulty, it has been silent for a long time, but the energy density of LFP batteries is close to the extreme value, and the continuous breakthrough of lithium manganese batteries technology has resonated. Many manufacturers have begun to pay attention to LMFP because of its economy.
LMFP development limiting factors
As an upgraded version of LFP, LMFP inherits the advantages of LFP such as low cost, high thermal stability, and high safety, and makes up for its shortcomings such as low energy density and poor low temperature stability. However, LMFP also has problems such as poor conductivity, rate performance, and poor cycle performance.
● Conductivity and lithium ion diffusion rate limit the development of LMFP ● Jahn-Teller effect reduces cycle life and cycle stability ● The dual-voltage platform increases the management difficulty of the battery management system (BMS) in the later stage
The industrialization process of LMFP is accelerating, and it is increasingly favored by the market. Although the above factors limit the commercialization process of LMFP to a certain extent, with the progress of modification technologies such as carbon coating, nanometerization, and lithium supplementation technology.
The limiting factors for its development have been greatly improved, and the industrialization process of LMFP has been greatly accelerated. Based on the advantages and disadvantages of LMFP and the current technical improvement status, LMFP is increasingly favored by the market.
LMFP preparation technical route
The current industrial technology route of LMFP is to integrate with LFP technology, the main purpose is to continue to use LFP equipment, thereby reducing cost input. The process of battery-grade LMFP is: solid-phase method and liquid-phase method. After a long period of technical research, breakthroughs in key technologies have been achieved, and mass production can be achieved.
● Solid phase synthesis
The equipment process for preparing LMFP is similar to that of the existing solid-phase method for preparing LFP. Considering mass production costs and technology accumulation, mainstream manufacturers in the industry will focus on solid-phase preparation in the future. The process includes precursor grinding, heat treatment, secondary grinding and high-temperature calcination.
The solid phase synthesis method has low difficulty in industrialization and high compaction density, but the large particle size and uneven distribution result in poor material consistency, long reaction process and high energy consumption. The difference from the LFP process is that the solid-phase method needs to add a manganese phosphate precursor for grinding, and the drying and calcination process equipment after grinding can be the same.
● Liquid-phase method
Liquid-phase methods can be further divided into hydrothermal methods, sol-gel methods, co-precipitation methods, and the like. The hydrothermal method is the most widely used and is used to produce nanoscale cathode materials.
The product obtained by sol-gel drying is uniform in phase and easy to control in particle size, but the drying process is more complicated. The co-precipitation method is often used to synthesize ferromanganese precursors, and then add lithium carbonate and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate to obtain the finished product after ball milling and calcination. The co-precipitation method is relatively simple to operate and easy to achieve mass production.
In the previous process, LMFP and LFP can use the same equipment. In the subsequent sintering process, the kiln temperature and sintering process are slightly changed, and other process steps are basically similar, with less equipment replacement. However, manganese remains in the equipment after LMFP is done and cannot be directly used to prepare LFP, so it cannot be mixed with LFP process equipment.
LMFP market space
It is predicted that LMFP will have abundant application fields in the future of battery materials, and the market demand is expected to reach 144.13GWh by 2025, and the application fields will focus on the following aspects:
● Vehicle power battery field
LMFP has advantages in pure use and compounding, and has broad development prospects. On the one hand, LMFP can replace the use of LFP in power batteries, on the other hand, LMFP can be used as a stabilizer and combined with ternary materials. According to estimates, it is estimated that by 2025, the total demand for LMFP in the field of vehicle power batteries will reach 80.7GWh. Here are top 10 power battery manufacturers in the world.
● Two-wheel electric vehicle field
The market share of cost-effective LMFP is advancing rapidly. According to estimates, in 2025, LFP will account for 35% of global two wheeler electric bike, and ternary or lithium manganate will account for 65%. With its more obvious performance and cost advantages, LMFP will gradually replace LFP or be used in combination with ternary components. It is estimated that the demand in the field of two-wheel vehicles will reach 18.43GWh in 2025.
● Energy storage field
LMFP has an energy density advantage over LFP. The mature power market, successively promulgated favorable policies, and increasingly prominent economic space all illustrate the huge development potential of the energy storage field. It is estimated that in the field of energy storage, by 2025, the replacement rate of LMFP to LFP will be 10%, and the demand will reach 45GWh.
For relevant manufacturers of LMFP, please refer to the top 10 LMFP companies in China. I hope it will be helpful to you.
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LMFP development and market space analysis
Lithium-ion battery is currently the batteries product with the best comprehensive performance, and it is also the batteries product with the widest application range. Lithium-ion batteries are composed of cathode, anode, electrolyte, separator and other parts. Among them, the cathode materials are the source of lithium ions, which determines the performance of lithium-ion batteries, directly determines the energy density and safety of the batteries, and then affects the overall performance of the batteries.
The development of cathode materials and technological breakthroughs are of great significance to the lithium-ion batteries industry. This article focuses on exploring LMFP, a new type of cathode material, to understand the development overview and market space of LMFP and other related information, and on this basis, to clarify the overall future development trend of lithium manganese iron phosphate.
Overview of LMFP
LMFP is considered an upgraded version of LFP in the industry, and it is a currently relatively feasible LFP upgrade solution. This solution is to dope a certain amount of manganese on the basis of LFP and adjust the ratio of its atomic number to iron to increase the voltage platform of the material. LMFP is an upgraded product of LFP. It has similar properties to LFP and LMFP.
It has better thermal stability, chemical stability and economy than ternary materials, and at the same time has a higher energy density than LFP. At present, the energy density of LFP, the mainstream cathode material in the market, has almost reached the upper limit, and LMFP is expected to break the bottleneck. The energy density of LFP batteries is as high as 161.27Wh/kg, and has not changed much in recent years, so LMFP has developed.
The theoretical gram capacity of LFP batteries is 170mAh/g, which has almost reached the limit at present, so increasing the voltage platform is the decisive factor for increasing energy density. The high-voltage characteristics of manganese in LMFP make LMFP have a higher voltage platform than LFP, which can break the current upper limit of batteries energy density.
LMFP development advantages
● Compared with ternary materials, LMFP has low cost, high cycle and high stability
Compared with ternary materials, LMFP has lower cost, higher cycle times and more stable structure. The main raw materials of ternary materials include cobalt, nickel and manganese, while the main elements of LMFP are manganese and iron.
According to data disclosure, the market price of cobalt and nickel is much higher than that of manganese, so the cost of ternary materials will be higher than that of LMFP. In addition, the cycle life of LMFP is as high as 2000 times, while the cycle life of ternary materials is only between 800 and 2000 times, and the gap is obvious.
From the structural point of view, compared with the ternary materials with layered structure, LMFP with olivine structure will be more stable during charging and discharging. Even if all lithium ions are released during charging, there will be no problem of structural collapse. At the same time, P atoms in LMFP form PO4 tetrahedrons through P-O strong covalent bonds, and O atoms are difficult to escape from the structure, which also makes LMFP have high safety and stability.
● Compared with LFP, LMFP has prominent advantages in high pressure and low temperature
Compared with LPF lithium, LMFP has high voltage, high energy density and better low temperature performance. LMFP and LFP have the same theoretical capacity, but the voltage platform of LFP is only 3.4V, while LMFP can reach up to 4.1V, and it is located in the stable electrochemical window of the organic electrolyte system, which also makes LMFP have a higher upper limit of energy density. Moreover, when the actual capacity of LMFP is the same as that of LFP, the energy density of LMFP can be increased by 15% compared with lithium iron phosphate.
● LMFP development meets economy
At present, batteries factories and cathode factories are more eager for solutions that can increase energy density from a technical level. Due to the problems of LMFP performance and production difficulty, it has been silent for a long time, but the energy density of LFP batteries is close to the extreme value, and the continuous breakthrough of lithium manganese batteries technology has resonated. Many manufacturers have begun to pay attention to LMFP because of its economy.
LMFP development limiting factors
As an upgraded version of LFP, LMFP inherits the advantages of LFP such as low cost, high thermal stability, and high safety, and makes up for its shortcomings such as low energy density and poor low temperature stability. However, LMFP also has problems such as poor conductivity, rate performance, and poor cycle performance.
● Conductivity and lithium ion diffusion rate limit the development of LMFP
● Jahn-Teller effect reduces cycle life and cycle stability
● The dual-voltage platform increases the management difficulty of the battery management system (BMS) in the later stage
The industrialization process of LMFP is accelerating, and it is increasingly favored by the market. Although the above factors limit the commercialization process of LMFP to a certain extent, with the progress of modification technologies such as carbon coating, nanometerization, and lithium supplementation technology.
The limiting factors for its development have been greatly improved, and the industrialization process of LMFP has been greatly accelerated. Based on the advantages and disadvantages of LMFP and the current technical improvement status, LMFP is increasingly favored by the market.
LMFP preparation technical route
The current industrial technology route of LMFP is to integrate with LFP technology, the main purpose is to continue to use LFP equipment, thereby reducing cost input. The process of battery-grade LMFP is: solid-phase method and liquid-phase method. After a long period of technical research, breakthroughs in key technologies have been achieved, and mass production can be achieved.
● Solid phase synthesis
The equipment process for preparing LMFP is similar to that of the existing solid-phase method for preparing LFP. Considering mass production costs and technology accumulation, mainstream manufacturers in the industry will focus on solid-phase preparation in the future. The process includes precursor grinding, heat treatment, secondary grinding and high-temperature calcination.
The solid phase synthesis method has low difficulty in industrialization and high compaction density, but the large particle size and uneven distribution result in poor material consistency, long reaction process and high energy consumption. The difference from the LFP process is that the solid-phase method needs to add a manganese phosphate precursor for grinding, and the drying and calcination process equipment after grinding can be the same.
● Liquid-phase method
Liquid-phase methods can be further divided into hydrothermal methods, sol-gel methods, co-precipitation methods, and the like. The hydrothermal method is the most widely used and is used to produce nanoscale cathode materials.
The product obtained by sol-gel drying is uniform in phase and easy to control in particle size, but the drying process is more complicated. The co-precipitation method is often used to synthesize ferromanganese precursors, and then add lithium carbonate and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate to obtain the finished product after ball milling and calcination. The co-precipitation method is relatively simple to operate and easy to achieve mass production.
In the previous process, LMFP and LFP can use the same equipment. In the subsequent sintering process, the kiln temperature and sintering process are slightly changed, and other process steps are basically similar, with less equipment replacement. However, manganese remains in the equipment after LMFP is done and cannot be directly used to prepare LFP, so it cannot be mixed with LFP process equipment.
LMFP market space
It is predicted that LMFP will have abundant application fields in the future of battery materials, and the market demand is expected to reach 144.13GWh by 2025, and the application fields will focus on the following aspects:
● Vehicle power battery field
LMFP has advantages in pure use and compounding, and has broad development prospects. On the one hand, LMFP can replace the use of LFP in power batteries, on the other hand, LMFP can be used as a stabilizer and combined with ternary materials. According to estimates, it is estimated that by 2025, the total demand for LMFP in the field of vehicle power batteries will reach 80.7GWh. Here are top 10 power battery manufacturers in the world.
● Two-wheel electric vehicle field
The market share of cost-effective LMFP is advancing rapidly. According to estimates, in 2025, LFP will account for 35% of global two wheeler electric bike, and ternary or lithium manganate will account for 65%. With its more obvious performance and cost advantages, LMFP will gradually replace LFP or be used in combination with ternary components. It is estimated that the demand in the field of two-wheel vehicles will reach 18.43GWh in 2025.
● Energy storage field
LMFP has an energy density advantage over LFP. The mature power market, successively promulgated favorable policies, and increasingly prominent economic space all illustrate the huge development potential of the energy storage field. It is estimated that in the field of energy storage, by 2025, the replacement rate of LMFP to LFP will be 10%, and the demand will reach 45GWh.
For relevant manufacturers of LMFP, please refer to the top 10 LMFP companies in China. I hope it will be helpful to you.
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