Global chemical supplier Nippon Shokubai and materials science specialist Arkema plan to establish a joint venture to build an industrial plant for the production of LiFSI, aka lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide, an ultrapure electrolyte salt.

The project is intended to support the development of the European battery value chain. The partners mean to enable the mass production of LiFSI electrolyte salt at Arkema’s Pierre-Bénite site in France by the end of 2025.

The JV will combine Arkema’s fluorochemicals expertise and Nippon Shokubai’s know-how in the industrial-scale production of high-purity LiFSI. The partners built a LiFSI pilot production line based on a new integrated process that they developed, and this line came on stream at the Pierre-Bénite site in 2021.

The companies predict that ultrapure and high-performance LiFSI electrolyte salts, key components of EV battery cells, will “speed up the development of new electrolyte formulations for the next generations of batteries, including semi-solid and solid-state batteries, by significantly increasing their power, stability, cycle life, and recyclability, while reducing charging time in high or low temperature conditions.”

Source: Nippon Shokubai