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RELEASED ON 12/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Brazilian chemical company Elekeiroz and plastic packaging producer Videolar are the final two contenders to acquire Innova, the styrene unit of state-controlled energy giant Petrobras.
According to a report in Valor Econômico, Innova, based in Triunfo in southern Brazil, is valued at around US$400mn. Innova produces styrene, polystyrene and ethylbenzene. Petrobras is selling a number of businesses to concentrate on deepwater exploration in Brazil.
Videolar, based in Manaus in the Amazon region, is one of Brazil's largest producers of styrene.
São Paulo-based Elekeiroz does not have a styrene business and currently produces chemical raw materials including oxo alcohols such as 2-Ethylhexanol and n-Butanol, as well as plasticizers and polyester resins. According to the report, the company wants to enter a new market such as styrene.
Other bidders for Innova, including multinationals, are now out of the running, according to the report. The high price in Brazil of ethylene and benzene, raw materials for the production of styrene, has delayed the sale process.
Innova's annual production capacity is 250,000t of styrene, 155,000t of polystyrene and 540,000t of ethylbenzene. All of the ethylbenzene production is used by Innova itself. Its annual sales are an estimated 1bn reais (US$465mn).
The other major producer of styrene and polystyrene in Brazil, Unigel, has debt that is four times greater than its Ebitda and is in no position to bid for Innova. Unigel may sell some of its business lines, or the whole company may be sold. Unigel currently operates in the acrylics, packaging, styrenics and fertilizer businesses.
SOURCE Business News America
Brazilian chemical company Elekeiroz and plastic packaging producer Videolar are the final two contenders to acquire Innova, the styrene unit of state-controlled energy giant Petrobras.
According to a report in Valor Econômico, Innova, based in Triunfo in southern Brazil, is valued at around US$400mn. Innova produces styrene, polystyrene and ethylbenzene. Petrobras is selling a number of businesses to concentrate on deepwater exploration in Brazil.
Videolar, based in Manaus in the Amazon region, is one of Brazil's largest producers of styrene.
São Paulo-based Elekeiroz does not have a styrene business and currently produces chemical raw materials including oxo alcohols such as 2-Ethylhexanol and n-Butanol, as well as plasticizers and polyester resins. According to the report, the company wants to enter a new market such as styrene.
Other bidders for Innova, including multinationals, are now out of the running, according to the report. The high price in Brazil of ethylene and benzene, raw materials for the production of styrene, has delayed the sale process.
Innova's annual production capacity is 250,000t of styrene, 155,000t of polystyrene and 540,000t of ethylbenzene. All of the ethylbenzene production is used by Innova itself. Its annual sales are an estimated 1bn reais (US$465mn).
The other major producer of styrene and polystyrene in Brazil, Unigel, has debt that is four times greater than its Ebitda and is in no position to bid for Innova. Unigel may sell some of its business lines, or the whole company may be sold. Unigel currently operates in the acrylics, packaging, styrenics and fertilizer businesses.
SOURCE Business News America
RELEASED ON 13/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
On June 11, 2013, Symrise begins operations at its new powder mixing plant. The complex also includes a modern raw materials warehouse. With the new construction, the Group is consolidating its production of flavored powdered mixtures for sweet and savory foods. This is part of Symrise's program to invest around 200 million euros in its facilities.
Symrise is constantly investing in its sites. The current project focuses on the expansion of powder mixing operations and the addition of a new warehouse for raw materials. Operations at the new facility begins on June 11, 2013. In the future, employees here will produce flavors for powdered compositions used in sweets, soups, instant foods and seasoning mixes for snacks.
"Today, we are combining areas that belong together. Previously, we had two separate powder mixing facilities in Holzminden. With our new plant, we are consolidating both production sites and thereby increasing efficiency, capacity and product diversity," explains Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise AG, regarding the purpose of the new complex. "Much like the wishes of our cus-tomers, today's markets and business areas develop very dynamically. With our new production plant, we can now react more flexibly to these changes," Bertram continued.
Symrise invested more than 5 million euros into the new building. The invest-ment is part of the 2020 site agreement, which stipulates that Symrise will in-vest 220 million euros by the year 2020.
Over the past four years, Symrise has already invested 120 million euros at various sites. This includes the expansion of the perfume oil mixing operation in Holzminden, new sites in Russia and Brazil, production expansion in Singapore as well as the doubling of the menthol capacities and the new research center in Holzminden.
Other Symrise projects are either under construction or being planned, such as the building of a new extraction facility for natural flavors and the upcoming ex-pansion of the production capacities for cosmetic ingredients.
The new mixing plant consists of two areas: Production activities are distributed across 3,500 square meters, while the warehouse offers room for 1,500 pallets on 1,000 square meters of floor space. All processes from raw materials to shipping are now located under one roof.
A system of special locks increases the hygiene standards for this production area. Symrise also installed a light management system that fulfills the MINERGIE and EU Ecodesign regulations. This creates energy savings of 75 % compared to conventional electrical ballasts. The system also has controls that change according to the amount of daylight as well as a presence detector.
SOURCE Food and Beverage Asia
On June 11, 2013, Symrise begins operations at its new powder mixing plant. The complex also includes a modern raw materials warehouse. With the new construction, the Group is consolidating its production of flavored powdered mixtures for sweet and savory foods. This is part of Symrise's program to invest around 200 million euros in its facilities.
Symrise is constantly investing in its sites. The current project focuses on the expansion of powder mixing operations and the addition of a new warehouse for raw materials. Operations at the new facility begins on June 11, 2013. In the future, employees here will produce flavors for powdered compositions used in sweets, soups, instant foods and seasoning mixes for snacks.
"Today, we are combining areas that belong together. Previously, we had two separate powder mixing facilities in Holzminden. With our new plant, we are consolidating both production sites and thereby increasing efficiency, capacity and product diversity," explains Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise AG, regarding the purpose of the new complex. "Much like the wishes of our cus-tomers, today's markets and business areas develop very dynamically. With our new production plant, we can now react more flexibly to these changes," Bertram continued.
Symrise invested more than 5 million euros into the new building. The invest-ment is part of the 2020 site agreement, which stipulates that Symrise will in-vest 220 million euros by the year 2020.
Over the past four years, Symrise has already invested 120 million euros at various sites. This includes the expansion of the perfume oil mixing operation in Holzminden, new sites in Russia and Brazil, production expansion in Singapore as well as the doubling of the menthol capacities and the new research center in Holzminden.
Other Symrise projects are either under construction or being planned, such as the building of a new extraction facility for natural flavors and the upcoming ex-pansion of the production capacities for cosmetic ingredients.
The new mixing plant consists of two areas: Production activities are distributed across 3,500 square meters, while the warehouse offers room for 1,500 pallets on 1,000 square meters of floor space. All processes from raw materials to shipping are now located under one roof.
A system of special locks increases the hygiene standards for this production area. Symrise also installed a light management system that fulfills the MINERGIE and EU Ecodesign regulations. This creates energy savings of 75 % compared to conventional electrical ballasts. The system also has controls that change according to the amount of daylight as well as a presence detector.
SOURCE Food and Beverage Asia
RELEASED ON 12/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Japan’s Toagosei plans to shut its acrylate esters plant in Singapore in end-June for scheduled maintenance, a source close to the company said on Wednesday. The plant, located on Jurong Island, will be shut for a month-long maintenance, the source said.
Toagosei’s Singapore facility includes a 60,000 tonne/year butyl acrylate plant, and a 20,000 tonne/year methyl acrylate/ethyl acrylate swing unit. The units are currently operating at 100% capacity, the source added.
SOURCE Icis News
Japan’s Toagosei plans to shut its acrylate esters plant in Singapore in end-June for scheduled maintenance, a source close to the company said on Wednesday. The plant, located on Jurong Island, will be shut for a month-long maintenance, the source said.
Toagosei’s Singapore facility includes a 60,000 tonne/year butyl acrylate plant, and a 20,000 tonne/year methyl acrylate/ethyl acrylate swing unit. The units are currently operating at 100% capacity, the source added.
SOURCE Icis News
RELEASED ON 12/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Nippon Shokubai Indonesia has shut its 60,000 tonne/year crude acrylic acid (AA) plant located at Cilegon, West Java for scheduled maintenance, a company source said on Wednesday. The company shut the 60,000 tonne/year crude AA plant earlier this week for one month of scheduled maintenance, the source said.
According to the source, the company has also shut its 100,000 tonne/year acrylate esters unit for maintenance, alongside with the crude AA plant.
“Inventory for the spot market will be limited, but we will still be able to fulfil contractual basis needs,” the source added.
SOURCE Icis News
Nippon Shokubai Indonesia has shut its 60,000 tonne/year crude acrylic acid (AA) plant located at Cilegon, West Java for scheduled maintenance, a company source said on Wednesday. The company shut the 60,000 tonne/year crude AA plant earlier this week for one month of scheduled maintenance, the source said.
According to the source, the company has also shut its 100,000 tonne/year acrylate esters unit for maintenance, alongside with the crude AA plant.
“Inventory for the spot market will be limited, but we will still be able to fulfil contractual basis needs,” the source added.
SOURCE Icis News
RELEASED ON 11/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Asahi Kasei has delayed the restart of an Acrylonitrile (ACN) plant in Thailand. A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the restart of the plant has been delayed to mid-July 2013. It was initially scheduled to restart in mid-June 2013.
The plant was shut in mid-May 2013 for maintenance turnaround. Located in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
Asahi Kasei has delayed the restart of an Acrylonitrile (ACN) plant in Thailand. A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the restart of the plant has been delayed to mid-July 2013. It was initially scheduled to restart in mid-June 2013.
The plant was shut in mid-May 2013 for maintenance turnaround. Located in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
RELEASED ON 11/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Lotte Chemical has shut a Styrene monomer (SM) plant. A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant was shut on June 10, 2013. It is expected to remain off-stream for around 10 days. the plant was shut owing to technical issues.
Located in Daesan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 560,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
Lotte Chemical has shut a Styrene monomer (SM) plant. A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant was shut on June 10, 2013. It is expected to remain off-stream for around 10 days. the plant was shut owing to technical issues.
Located in Daesan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 560,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
RELEASED ON 11/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
SP Chemicals is in plans to start trial production at a Styrene monomer (SM) plant in China. A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to start trial production in July 2013. Located in Jiangsu province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 320,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
SP Chemicals is in plans to start trial production at a Styrene monomer (SM) plant in China. A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to start trial production in July 2013. Located in Jiangsu province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 320,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
RELEASED ON 10/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Germany's Daimler AG and specialty chemicals makerEvonik Industries AG are weighing a sale of their once-celebrated but unprofitable battery joint venture Li-Tec, in a transaction owners hope could fetch as much as 1 billion euros ($1.32 billion).
Luxury car maker Daimler, which owns 49.9% of Li-Tec and Evonik, which holds the rest, are considering selling the Dresden-based company after an initial plan to get a third owner on board failed and expectations of a mega-trend have faded, several people familiar with the matter said. Industry sources suggest the joint venture could be a good fit for Asian battery specialists.
These would find it easier to sell the batteries to more car makers than just Daimler, which uses the lithium-ion batteries in an electric version of its Smart car.
Daimler said in a statement: "We are looking at different options to give Li-Tec a better long-term grounding in the very competitive global market for battery cells. We haven't made a final decision."
Evonik declined to comment.
Amid great fanfare in 2008, Daimler began a strategic partnership with Evonik to develop electronic car batteries, hailing it as "the entry into a billion-euro market" and proclaiming the goal to become the "number one in lithium-ion battery technology in Europe."
The companies started two joint ventures. One was to produce lithium-ion cells, dubbed Li-Tec, with Daimler taking a 49.9% stake and Evonik the rest. The other, Deutsche Accumotive GmbH & Co. KG, was to develop and produce battery systems for cars, with Daimler holding 90% and Evonik taking a 10% stake.
According to the plan, if Li-Tec achieved a breakthrough, the company was to sell the batteries to other car makers as well. But Li-Tec has been in the red since its inception. In 2011, the company posted a loss of EUR26.2 million, two-thirds wider than in the year prior. Li-Tec has said it expects an operative loss also for 2012 and 2013. Bankers therefore expect Daimler and Evonik to fetch less than the EUR1 billion price tag they hope for.
The high-flying hopes for massive use of electrically fueled automobiles haven't materialized. Sales haven't taken off, with electronic cars plagued with problems such as the high price of batteries, and therefore high car prices, low-distance reliability as well as a lack of loading infrastructure.
A real breakthrough for electric-only cars would require battery capacities to double or triple according to industry experts, who suggest that hybrid technologies, a combination of battery and gasoline-powered engines, are more likely to achieve a substantial market share within the next few years.
Other battery developers' efforts have also fizzled. Robert Bosch GMBH, Europe's largest maker of car parts by revenue, for example last September sold its 50% stake in the electric battery maker SB LiMotive Co Ltd to its partner Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. Bosch at the time said it is open for other future electric car battery joint ventures. An Israeli start-up by former SAP AG manager Shai Agassi filed for insolvency at end-May.
Other car makers are cooperating with rivals or non-car companies. BMW AG is cooperating with Toyota Motors Corp. (TM), while Daimler is developing electric engines with Bosch, and Germany's Continental AG teamed up with South Korean energy and petrochemical company SK Innovation Co. Ltd.
SOURCE Dow Jones
Germany's Daimler AG and specialty chemicals makerEvonik Industries AG are weighing a sale of their once-celebrated but unprofitable battery joint venture Li-Tec, in a transaction owners hope could fetch as much as 1 billion euros ($1.32 billion).
Luxury car maker Daimler, which owns 49.9% of Li-Tec and Evonik, which holds the rest, are considering selling the Dresden-based company after an initial plan to get a third owner on board failed and expectations of a mega-trend have faded, several people familiar with the matter said. Industry sources suggest the joint venture could be a good fit for Asian battery specialists.
These would find it easier to sell the batteries to more car makers than just Daimler, which uses the lithium-ion batteries in an electric version of its Smart car.
Daimler said in a statement: "We are looking at different options to give Li-Tec a better long-term grounding in the very competitive global market for battery cells. We haven't made a final decision."
Evonik declined to comment.
Amid great fanfare in 2008, Daimler began a strategic partnership with Evonik to develop electronic car batteries, hailing it as "the entry into a billion-euro market" and proclaiming the goal to become the "number one in lithium-ion battery technology in Europe."
The companies started two joint ventures. One was to produce lithium-ion cells, dubbed Li-Tec, with Daimler taking a 49.9% stake and Evonik the rest. The other, Deutsche Accumotive GmbH & Co. KG, was to develop and produce battery systems for cars, with Daimler holding 90% and Evonik taking a 10% stake.
According to the plan, if Li-Tec achieved a breakthrough, the company was to sell the batteries to other car makers as well. But Li-Tec has been in the red since its inception. In 2011, the company posted a loss of EUR26.2 million, two-thirds wider than in the year prior. Li-Tec has said it expects an operative loss also for 2012 and 2013. Bankers therefore expect Daimler and Evonik to fetch less than the EUR1 billion price tag they hope for.
The high-flying hopes for massive use of electrically fueled automobiles haven't materialized. Sales haven't taken off, with electronic cars plagued with problems such as the high price of batteries, and therefore high car prices, low-distance reliability as well as a lack of loading infrastructure.
A real breakthrough for electric-only cars would require battery capacities to double or triple according to industry experts, who suggest that hybrid technologies, a combination of battery and gasoline-powered engines, are more likely to achieve a substantial market share within the next few years.
Other battery developers' efforts have also fizzled. Robert Bosch GMBH, Europe's largest maker of car parts by revenue, for example last September sold its 50% stake in the electric battery maker SB LiMotive Co Ltd to its partner Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. Bosch at the time said it is open for other future electric car battery joint ventures. An Israeli start-up by former SAP AG manager Shai Agassi filed for insolvency at end-May.
Other car makers are cooperating with rivals or non-car companies. BMW AG is cooperating with Toyota Motors Corp. (TM), while Daimler is developing electric engines with Bosch, and Germany's Continental AG teamed up with South Korean energy and petrochemical company SK Innovation Co. Ltd.
SOURCE Dow Jones
RELEASED ON 10/06/13 DD/MM/YY)
Formosa Plastics Corp. is in plans to shut a methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant for maintenance.
A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the plant is planned to be shut on June 25, 2013. It is likely to remain shut for around one month. Located in Mailiao, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 98,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
Formosa Plastics Corp. is in plans to shut a methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant for maintenance.
A Polymerupdate source in Taiwan informed that the plant is planned to be shut on June 25, 2013. It is likely to remain shut for around one month. Located in Mailiao, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 98,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
RELEASED ON 10/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
INEOS intends to stop production of expandable polystyrene (EPS) at its site in Marl, Germany, at the end of 2013, the Switzerland-headquartered producer said on Monday.
The EPS plant in Marl, located in the northern part of the Ruhr region, has the capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes/year. INEOS will now begin talks with employees and the works council to find alternative roles for the 65 people affected by the closure.
INEOS said demand for EPS products has fallen as a result of the European construction sector suffering from adverse economic conditions, adding that the plant’s operating costs have also been affected by the recent closure of the group’s styrene and polystyrene units in Marl.
“The loss of the styrene monomer and polystyrene units removed a number of operating synergies at the Marl site which left the EPS unit with an unsustainable fixed cost base and a weaker styrene monomer supply position,” the company said.
INEOS said a detailed review of its EPS business highlighted the need to “optimise production capacity” across its three remaining facilities in Breda, the Netherlands, and Ribecourt and Wingles, both in France.
INEOS said it will still continue to be one of the largest producers of EPS in Europe with 350,000 tonnes/year capacity following the closure of the Marl unit. The company added that production at its 250,000 tonne/year cumene plant in Marl will continue.
SOURCE Icis News
INEOS intends to stop production of expandable polystyrene (EPS) at its site in Marl, Germany, at the end of 2013, the Switzerland-headquartered producer said on Monday.
The EPS plant in Marl, located in the northern part of the Ruhr region, has the capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes/year. INEOS will now begin talks with employees and the works council to find alternative roles for the 65 people affected by the closure.
INEOS said demand for EPS products has fallen as a result of the European construction sector suffering from adverse economic conditions, adding that the plant’s operating costs have also been affected by the recent closure of the group’s styrene and polystyrene units in Marl.
“The loss of the styrene monomer and polystyrene units removed a number of operating synergies at the Marl site which left the EPS unit with an unsustainable fixed cost base and a weaker styrene monomer supply position,” the company said.
INEOS said a detailed review of its EPS business highlighted the need to “optimise production capacity” across its three remaining facilities in Breda, the Netherlands, and Ribecourt and Wingles, both in France.
INEOS said it will still continue to be one of the largest producers of EPS in Europe with 350,000 tonnes/year capacity following the closure of the Marl unit. The company added that production at its 250,000 tonne/year cumene plant in Marl will continue.
SOURCE Icis News
La ville d'Indianapolis a choisi le groupe Bolloré. Un contrat intéressant mais profitera-t-il à l'usine d'Ergué-Gabéric ?
Dernière mise à jour : 10/06/2013 à 23:12
Par Sébastien Joncquez
A car-sharing service that could bring up to 500 electric cars across metro Indianapolis is expected to launch next spring, a Bolloré Group official said this afternoon.The French company, which runs a sprawling car-sharing service in Paris, selected Indianapolis for its first expansion project. Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and other civic and business leaders announced Bolloré’s plans today outside City Market. Voilà ce que l’on peut lire sur le site d’information indystar.com aujourd’hui. Le groupe Bolloré a donc été retenu par cette ville américaine (État de l’Indiane au Nord-Est) de plus de 800 000 habitants. Il doit livrer dans un premier temps 500 voitures électriques.
Après Paris, Lyon et Bordeaux, la société dont le siège est situé à Ergué-Gabéric poursuit son extension. De bon augure pour le site quimpérois qui fabrique les batteries. À moins que, comme l’affirme le journal le Parisien, le groupe prévoit d’utiliser des voitures construites aux États-Unis comme la Nissan Leaf ou Ford Focus électrique au lieu de la petite Bluecar. Or l’usine Batscap du groupe Bolloré, à Ergué-Gabéric, abrite la production de batteries électriques Lithium Metal Polymère (LMP) de la Bluecar. À suivre…
Ergué-Gabéric, France Indianapolis, Indiana, États-Unis
RELEASED ON 06/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Yeochun Naphta Cracking Centre (YNCC) has restarted a Butadiene plant. A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant restarted on June 3, 2013. It was shut on May 9, 2013 for maintenance turnaround. Located in Yeosu, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
Yeochun Naphta Cracking Centre (YNCC) has restarted a Butadiene plant. A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant restarted on June 3, 2013. It was shut on May 9, 2013 for maintenance turnaround. Located in Yeosu, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
RELEASED ON 06/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Asahi Kasei is operating its acrylonitrile (ACN) plant at lower capacity levels. A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant is currently operating at 70% of production capacity. The lower rates are a result of weak demand fundamentals in the domestic markets. Located in Kawasaki, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 150,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
Asahi Kasei is operating its acrylonitrile (ACN) plant at lower capacity levels. A Polymerupdate source in Japan informed that the plant is currently operating at 70% of production capacity. The lower rates are a result of weak demand fundamentals in the domestic markets. Located in Kawasaki, Japan, the plant has a production capacity of 150,000 mt/year.
SOURCE PolymerUpdate
RELEASED ON 05/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Arkema has begun to start up an acrylic acid expansion project at its site in Clear Lake near Houston, bringing nameplate capacity there to 270,000 tonnes/year, the France-based chemicals firm said on Wednesday.
Arkema said it would be ramping up the additional capacity in the next few months. It did not disclose how much capacity was added at Clear Lake.
The project is part of a $110m (€84m) investment plan Arkema had announced in 2010. Last year, Arkema started up a 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate (2-EHA) unit at its Bayport, Texas, facility.
SOURCE Icis News
Arkema has begun to start up an acrylic acid expansion project at its site in Clear Lake near Houston, bringing nameplate capacity there to 270,000 tonnes/year, the France-based chemicals firm said on Wednesday.
Arkema said it would be ramping up the additional capacity in the next few months. It did not disclose how much capacity was added at Clear Lake.
The project is part of a $110m (€84m) investment plan Arkema had announced in 2010. Last year, Arkema started up a 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate (2-EHA) unit at its Bayport, Texas, facility.
SOURCE Icis News
RELEASED ON 05/06/13 (DD/MM/YY)
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium-sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today's electronics.
The ORNL battery design, which uses abundant low-cost elemental sulfur, also addresses flammability concerns experienced by other chemistries.
"Our approach is a complete change from the current battery concept of two electrodes joined by a liquid electrolyte, which has been used over the last 150 to 200 years," said Chengdu Liang, lead author on the ORNL study published this week in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Scientists have been excited about the potential of lithium-sulfur batteries for decades, but long-lasting, large-scale versions for commercial applications have proven elusive. Researchers were stuck with a catch-22 created by the battery's use of liquid electrolytes: On one hand, the liquid helped conduct ions through the battery by allowing lithium polysulfide compounds to dissolve. The downside, however, was that the same dissolution process caused the battery to prematurely break down.
The ORNL team overcame these barriers by first synthesizing a never-before-seen class of sulfur-rich materials that conduct ions as well as the lithium metal oxides conventionally used in the battery's cathode. Liang's team then combined the new sulfur-rich cathode and a lithium anode with a solid electrolyte material, also developed at ORNL, to create an energy-dense, all-solid battery.
"This game-changing shift from liquid to solid electrolytes eliminates the problem of sulfur dissolution and enables us to deliver on the promise of lithium-sulfur batteries," Liang said. "Our battery design has real potential to reduce cost, increase energy density and improve safety compared with existing lithium-ion technologies."
The new ionically-conductive cathode enabled the ORNL battery to maintain a capacity of 1200 milliamp-hours (mAh) per gram after 300 charge-discharge cycles at 60 degrees Celsius. For comparison, a traditional lithium-ion battery cathode has an average capacity between 140-170 mAh/g. Because lithium-sulfur batteries deliver about half the voltage of lithium-ion versions, this eight-fold increase in capacity demonstrated in the ORNL battery cathode translates into four times the gravimetric energy density of lithium-ion technologies, explained Liang.
The team's all-solid design also increases battery safety by eliminating flammable liquid electrolytes that can react with lithium metal. Chief among the ORNL battery's other advantages is its use of elemental sulfur, a plentiful industrial byproduct of petroleum processing.
"Sulfur is practically free," Liang said. "Not only does sulfur store much more energy than the transition metal compounds used in lithium-ion battery cathodes, but a lithium-sulfur device could help recycle a waste product into a useful technology."
Although the team's new battery is still in the demonstration stage, Liang and his colleagues hope to see their research move quickly from the laboratory into commercial applications. A patent on the team's design is pending.
"This project represents a synergy between basic science and applied research," Liang said. "We used fundamental research to understand a scientific phenomenon, identified the problem and then created the right material to solve that problem, which led to the success of a device with real-world applications."
The study is published as "Lithium Polysulfidophosphates: A Family of Lithium-Conducting Sulfur-Rich Compounds for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries," and is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201300680 .. In addition to Liang, coauthors are ORNL's Zhan Lin, Zengcai Liu, Wujun Fu and Nancy Dudney.
The research was sponsored by the US Department of Energy, through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office. The investigation of the ionic conductivity of the new compounds was supported by the Department's Office of Science.
The synthesis and characterization was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL. CNMS is one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers supported by the DOE Office of Science, premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE's Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge and Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit http://science.energy.gov/bes/suf/user-facilities/nanoscale-science-research-cen ters/ ..
UT-Battellees manages ORNL for the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the Unite
SOURCE U.S. Department of Energy
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium-sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today's electronics.
The ORNL battery design, which uses abundant low-cost elemental sulfur, also addresses flammability concerns experienced by other chemistries.
"Our approach is a complete change from the current battery concept of two electrodes joined by a liquid electrolyte, which has been used over the last 150 to 200 years," said Chengdu Liang, lead author on the ORNL study published this week in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Scientists have been excited about the potential of lithium-sulfur batteries for decades, but long-lasting, large-scale versions for commercial applications have proven elusive. Researchers were stuck with a catch-22 created by the battery's use of liquid electrolytes: On one hand, the liquid helped conduct ions through the battery by allowing lithium polysulfide compounds to dissolve. The downside, however, was that the same dissolution process caused the battery to prematurely break down.
The ORNL team overcame these barriers by first synthesizing a never-before-seen class of sulfur-rich materials that conduct ions as well as the lithium metal oxides conventionally used in the battery's cathode. Liang's team then combined the new sulfur-rich cathode and a lithium anode with a solid electrolyte material, also developed at ORNL, to create an energy-dense, all-solid battery.
"This game-changing shift from liquid to solid electrolytes eliminates the problem of sulfur dissolution and enables us to deliver on the promise of lithium-sulfur batteries," Liang said. "Our battery design has real potential to reduce cost, increase energy density and improve safety compared with existing lithium-ion technologies."
The new ionically-conductive cathode enabled the ORNL battery to maintain a capacity of 1200 milliamp-hours (mAh) per gram after 300 charge-discharge cycles at 60 degrees Celsius. For comparison, a traditional lithium-ion battery cathode has an average capacity between 140-170 mAh/g. Because lithium-sulfur batteries deliver about half the voltage of lithium-ion versions, this eight-fold increase in capacity demonstrated in the ORNL battery cathode translates into four times the gravimetric energy density of lithium-ion technologies, explained Liang.
The team's all-solid design also increases battery safety by eliminating flammable liquid electrolytes that can react with lithium metal. Chief among the ORNL battery's other advantages is its use of elemental sulfur, a plentiful industrial byproduct of petroleum processing.
"Sulfur is practically free," Liang said. "Not only does sulfur store much more energy than the transition metal compounds used in lithium-ion battery cathodes, but a lithium-sulfur device could help recycle a waste product into a useful technology."
Although the team's new battery is still in the demonstration stage, Liang and his colleagues hope to see their research move quickly from the laboratory into commercial applications. A patent on the team's design is pending.
"This project represents a synergy between basic science and applied research," Liang said. "We used fundamental research to understand a scientific phenomenon, identified the problem and then created the right material to solve that problem, which led to the success of a device with real-world applications."
The study is published as "Lithium Polysulfidophosphates: A Family of Lithium-Conducting Sulfur-Rich Compounds for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries," and is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201300680 .. In addition to Liang, coauthors are ORNL's Zhan Lin, Zengcai Liu, Wujun Fu and Nancy Dudney.
The research was sponsored by the US Department of Energy, through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office. The investigation of the ionic conductivity of the new compounds was supported by the Department's Office of Science.
The synthesis and characterization was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL. CNMS is one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers supported by the DOE Office of Science, premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE's Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge and Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit http://science.energy.gov/bes/suf/user-facilities/nanoscale-science-research-cen ters/ ..
UT-Battellees manages ORNL for the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the Unite
SOURCE U.S. Department of Energy