Battery material manufacturer Nexeon has obtained property near to chemical company OCI’s facilities in Gunsan, South Korea for its first commercial-scale silicon anode material plant.

Nexeon has also struck an agreement with OCI for a long-term supply of monosilane, a by-product gas from the Gunsan plant’s semiconductor polysilicon production and a crucial raw chemical for its Generation 2 silicon anode materials. Under this contract, Nexeon will get monosilane from OCI through a direct pipeline between the facilities starting in 2025. As Nexeon expands its production capacity to meet demand, OCI will increase its supply lines in parallel to enable production of silicon anode material in the tens of thousands of tonnes per year.

Nexeon’s silicon-based anode material has the potential to boost lithium-ion cell energy density by 50%, according to the company. The Generation 2 “drop-in” material lets cell producers use more silicon in lithium-ion cell anodes compared to first-generation materials like silicon-oxide.

“The collaboration with OCI will help rapidly scale our operations. Between securing a strong supply chain of raw material and our supply agreement with Panasonic, we are one step closer to delivering high performance and cost-efficient silicon anode materials for more energy-dense batteries,” said Scott Brown, CEO of Nexeon.

Source: Nexeon