Posted by PureBULL ... > 2 months ago | Report Abuse
Sibao Technology, which is mainly engaged in organic silicon materials, has also deployed 10,000 tons/year of silicon carbon anode materials for lithium batteries. The materials have been evaluated by several battery manufacturers and have been supplied in small batches. In addition, the power battery manufacturer Guoxuan Hi-Tech also has a 5,000-ton/year silicon-based anode material project under construction.
At present, graphite is still the mainstream anode material, but the demand for silicon-based anodes has increased significantly in the past two years. According to Gaogong Lithium Battery data, China's silicon carbon anode shipments in 2020 will only be 6,000 tons, accounting for 2% of the overall lithium battery anode materials. The demand for silicon-based anode materials is expected to be 22,000 tons in 2022, with a compound growth rate of 80% from 2019 to 2022.
CICC made a clear judgment in a recent research report that 2022 is expected to become the first year of industrialization of silicon-based anodes. It is estimated that the global demand for silicon-based anodes is expected to reach 200,000 tons in 2025, of which the penetration rate of consumer batteries is expected to reach 50%, corresponding to the demand for silicon-based anodes of about 70,000 tons; the penetration rates in cylindrical and square power batteries will reach 35% and 20%, respectively. , corresponding to about 130,000 tons of silicon-based anode demand.
Promotion and application need to be reduced in cost
Before knocking on the door of the market, silicon-based anodes need not only continuous optimization in performance, but also continuous cost reduction to improve the cost-effectiveness advantage.
Capacity is one of the key indicators to measure the performance of negative electrode materials. The larger the capacity, the better the energy density of the battery. After decades of development, the specific capacity of traditional graphite anode has reached 360~365mAh/g, which is very close to the theoretical specific capacity of 372mAh/g, and the room for improvement is limited. The theoretical specific capacity of the silicon-based negative electrode is as high as 4200mAh/g, which means that its capacity ceiling is ten times higher than that of the graphite negative electrode.
On the other hand, silicon-based negative electrodes also have problems such as easy volume expansion of silicon, poor electrical conductivity, and large initial charge-discharge loss. Therefore, the performance improvement of materials is actually to find a balance between energy density and stability, and the current silicon-based anode products are doped with silicon and graphite for composite use.
At present, the proportion of silicon doping in mass-produced products is mostly below 10%, and there is a trend of gradual increase. Mo Ke, founder of True Lithium Research, told the Securities Times · e company reporter that the optimal proportion of silicon doping needs to be determined according to the situation in different fields. Later, the ratio was lowered in order to find a balance of comprehensive benefits.
Specifically, the silicon-based negative electrode is divided into different types such as silicon carbon negative electrode and silicon oxycarbon negative electrode. For example, Shidashenghua's products are ordinary type and high first-efficiency silicon-oxygen-carbon negative electrode (SiOx-C). The oxygen carbon negative electrode can reach 1600mAh/g.
Since the industrialization of silicon-based anodes is still in the early stage, manufacturers who give priority to mass production can enjoy the premium effect. A reporter from Securities Times·e Company learned that the current market price of silicon-based anodes is 200,000-300,000 yuan/ton, which is 4-6 times higher than the mid-end artificial graphite price of 50,000 yuan/ton, and the gross profit rate is 50%. .
