Proterial, Ltd., (formerly Hitachi Metals) has developed a technology to manufacture cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) without the previously required process of converting nickel to nickel hydroxide(Ni(OH)2) to produce a precursor that is used as the starting material for the manufacture of cathode materials.
The developed technology enables CO2 emissions during the production of cathode materials to be reduced by more than 20% compared to the manufacturing method based on the solid phase reaction method (announced in May 2022) that Proterial had developed.
LIB manufacturing accounts for a large proportion of CO2 emissions in the EV manufacturing process, with the largest share of CO2 coming from the starting material for cathode material for high nickel-type batteries. In particular, large amounts of CO2 are emitted in the process of obtaining the precursor nickel hydroxide(Ni(OH)2) from nickel (Ni).
Proterial has successfully developed a technology for producing cathode materials with comparable electrochemical properties without going through the process of producing the starting material where nickel sulfate (NiSO4) is produced from metal nickel (Ni), and the precursor of nickel hydroxide(Ni(OH)2) is then produced from that. With the developed technology, Proterial has succeeded in reducing CO2 emissions from the starting material by more than 30% compared to the conventional manufacturing method.