The Rapid Development of Li-ion Battery Industry Will Lead to Significant Growth in Aluminum Plastic Film of Li-ion Batteries

The growing energy crisis and environmental concerns have prompted countries to look for alternative energy sources. The automotive industry is currently undergoing significant changes. The Chinese government has been putting efforts to replace conventional fuel-powered vehicles to diminish dependence upon non-renewable energy.

Reasons for the slow volume of high-energy vehicle sales

The reasons cited for users not accepting pure electric vehicles is due to long charging time, low cruising range, and high li-ion battery replacement charge. Although lithium battery has had a significant drop in its price since 2010, the battery replacement cost is still a vital reason for consumers to avoid investing in new energy vehicles. Hence, stress is being put on how to shorten battery charging time, extend the cursing range, and reduce battery costs.

Changing battery market

Besides technological innovation, the NEV(new energy vehicles) industry is getting strong support through national policies. The local and central Chinese governments have launched numerous industrial policies to encourage healthy development as well as further improvement of the NEV battery industry. The National ‘863’ Plan has been launched in China since 2001 for NEV Major Project. It determines the technological development path of three horizontal and vertical NEV. It also clearly clarifies the growing importance and need for lithium battery development in today’s NEV industry.

New age introductions promote the increasing volume of sales

The European Union (EU) has proposed a policy of prohibition on the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2035, and the ratio of pure electric vehicles is expected to continue under the context of a rapid shift to pure electric vehicles. The government in China has managed to implement subsidy standards and a double-point policy to encourage mileage upgrades. Such policies in place have been helping encourage Nev’s technological developments. It includes achieving sustained NEV sales and enhancing the cruising range. The trend clearly shows the growing acceptance among today’s Chinese society of new energy vehicles. By the first half of 2022, global sales of NEVs exceeded 4.22 million, an increase of 66.38% over the same period last year.

The rapid development of the Li-ion battery industry will lead to significant growth in packaging materials of Li-ion batteries

To achieve the target of “carbon neutrality” and “emission peak”, reforms in the energy and transportation industries are imperative, driving the rapid development of new energy vehicles and the photovoltaic industry chain. Li-ion batteries can not only meet the demand for miniaturization and thinness of consumer electronics but also meet the demand for high-density and large discharge multipliers in the field of power batteries and energy storage areas. The rapid development of the Li-ion battery industry will lead to the substantial growth of aluminum plastic film and diaphragm film for Li-ion batteries.

The meaning of aluminum plastic film for Li-ion battery

There are dynamic electrochemical reactions inside lithium-ion batteries, which are sensitive to water and oxygen. When these substances meet, they will react and produce a large amount of hydrofluoric acid, which will affect the capacity and cycle life of the cell. Aluminum plastic film for the li-ion battery is a key packaging material, which completely isolates the inside of the cell from the outside, avoiding the possibility of water, and oxygen contact with the electrolyte. So it has strict requirements on the barrier, cold stamping form-ability, puncture resistance, chemical stability, and insulation.

Manufacturing methods of aluminum plastic film for Li-ion battery

The manufacturing methods of aluminum plastic film can be divided into the dry method and the thermal method. The aluminum-plastic film produced by the dry method has excellent deep-drawn molding performance and anti-short circuit performance with a good appearance. But the manufacturing is complicated and not easy to operate, which is suitable for power batteries and energy storage batteries. While the aluminum plastic film of the thermal method has the advantages of good electrolyte resistance and water resistance. But its deep-drawn molding performance and anti-short circuit performance are not as good as that of the dry method. It is suitable for consumer batteries with low capacity.

Development trend of the aluminum-plastic film: the process of nationalization is accelerated

Chinese aluminum plastic film for the li-ion battery industry started relatively late. In the past, the key raw materials and production equipment basically relied on imports. In recent years, this industry got rapid development through self-development and acquisition. At present, the domestic aluminum-plastic film is mainly used in the field of medium and low-end consumer batteries. Regarding power batteries, the Shanghai Zijiang group, Selen New Materials, and other enterprises have developed into the stage of sample delivery and small-scale trial use through two years of technological breakthroughs.

Due to the limit on production expansion of Showa Denki Group and DNP printing, the hope of overseas battery manufacturers to diversify suppliers, and the rise of domestic battery manufacturers, the development of the domestic aluminum plastic film industry will be further promoted.

The function of diaphragm film for Li-ion battery

The diaphragm is an important part of the lithium-ion battery, which is located between the anode and cathode. It could not only ensures lithium ion pass by but also hinders electron transmission. Its property directly affects the battery’s discharge capacity, cycle life, and safety.

Processing technology of Li-ion battery Diaphragm

The process is divided into a wet process and a dry process. In the early development stage of new energy, dry diaphragm film is widely used in large-scale lithium iron carbonate batteries because of its high safety, low cost, and easy operation. The wet separator has obvious advantages in physical, chemical, and mechanical properties, but its thermal stability is not as good as that of the dry separator. So it is more widely used in ternary batteries. The addition of the coating process greatly improves the thermal stability and puncture resistance of the wet diaphragm, its overall performance is better than that of the dry diaphragm.

Besides, as the price difference between the dry and wet diaphragm continues to shrink, the wet diaphragm will become the mainstream of the market in the future.

The development trend of the diaphragm

In the early stage, the diaphragm was mainly used for mobile phones, computers, and other 3c fields. The market demand was not large. With the explosive growth of the new energy and energy storage market, the new energy vehicle power market has become the largest application field of lithium batteries.
Japan and South Korean lithium battery diaphragm enterprises take advantage of early advanced technology and first-mover to occupy the overseas high-end market. Although the lithium battery diaphragm started late in our country, it got rapid growth with the development of the power industry in our country. By expanding the production scale and reducing the cost, domestic lithium battery enterprises gradually enter the overseas market by virtue of price advantage and product quality.