Celgard, LLC, a subsidiary of Polypore International, has announced it has entered into a multi-year joint development agreement with Morrow Batteries AS. Celgard will work with Morrow to develop, test, and commercialize next generation dry-process battery separators that will be used in Morrow high-voltage battery cells with lithium nickel manganese oxide (LNMO) cathode material for electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage system (ESS) applications.
While separator development activities are already underway between the two companies, commercial production will begin at Morrow’s battery cell Gigafactory at Eyde Energy Park in Arendal, Norway, in 2024.
Under the terms of the agreement, Morrow will exclusively use Celgard’s proprietary dry-process membrane separators, developed under the agreement, in high-voltage batteries produced at its Gigafactory. Morrow has committed to undisclosed annual purchase volumes.
Rahul Fotedar, chief technology officer of Morrow, said: “For over half a century Celgard has been at the forefront of membrane technology, we are very excited to join forces with them to commercialize separators for Morrow’s next generation high-voltage batteries. The partnership with Celgard provides a framework to speed up the development of our LNMO-based products and it is a big step towards Morrow’s goal of being a global leader in cost and sustainability.”
Lie Shi, Asahi Kasei global head of separator business development and executive vice president of Polypore, added the following: “We are excited to partner with Morrow to develop and showcase Celgard® next generation membrane separators for high-voltage battery cells manufactured at their battery Gigafactory and we look forward to further advancing electric vehicle technology with Morrow in Europe.“