Main content:
As a new generation of clean energy, lithium batteries can not only avoid environmental pollution, but also facilitate people's life and work. In view of the development status of the global lithium battery market, this article analyzes the development trend of the global lithium battery market, which can promote the development of lithium batteries in China in a certain sense.
1. Overview of lithium batteries
A lithium battery refers to a battery composed of a non-electrolyte solution and lithium metal or lithium alloy. Lithium batteries can be divided into two types: lithium metal batteries and lithium ion batteries. Lithium batteries are mainly composed of four parts: cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator. The cathode of the lithium metal battery is mainly manganese dioxide, and the anode is lithium metal, while the cathode of the lithium ion battery is lithium metal oxide, and the anode is graphite.
Compared with traditional batteries, lithium batteries have some advantages:
- First of all, the energy stored in lithium batteries is about six times that of ordinary batteries, and it has a service life of nearly six years or more.
- Secondly, lithium batteries do not contain heavy metals, have no pollution to the environment, and do not require water as a raw material in the production process.
- Finally, lithium batteries are extremely light in weight and can adapt to high and low temperature environments.
This makes it easier for people to use lithium batteries to a certain extent. However, while the lithium battery market is developing, there are also certain shortcomings:
- First, lithium primary batteries may explode during use, which affects people's safety.
- Second, lithium batteries must protect their circuits during charging and discharging.
- Third, lithium batteries have certain restrictions in production and use, and have relatively high costs.
2. Development status of the global lithium battery market
● Cathode materials
At present, the cathode materials in the global lithium battery market mainly include lithium metal oxides such as lithium manganese oxide, lithium cobalt oxide, ternary materials, and lithium iron phosphate.
Lithium cobalt oxide is mainly used as the cathode material of lithium batteries in products such as mobile phones and tablet computers that people use daily. The cathode materials of lithium batteries for electric vehicles are mainly potassium manganate and ternary materials, while lifepo4 battery is more safe.
In recent years, the cathode materials that have developed rapidly are mainly ternary materials. In the world, Japan, South Korea and Europe have most of the cathode material companies. Cathode material companies in the Chinese lithium battery market are also developing slowly.
● Anode materials
In the lithium battery market, the development of global lithium battery anode materials has been very mature. Therefore, lithium battery anode materials have not received the attention of companies in various countries. The anode material of lithium battery is mainly graphite. And graphite is mainly divided into natural graphite and artificial graphite.
Among them, the price of artificial graphite is relatively higher than that of natural graphite. Although lithium battery anode materials do not receive much attention in the world, the demand for lithium battery anode materials still maintains a growing trend.
● Lithium battery electrolyte
Lithium battery electrolytes are mainly divided into three types of electrolytes: liquid, gel and solid. Currently, liquid electrolytes dominate the lithium battery electrolyte market. The composition of liquid electrolyte is mainly composed of organic solvent, solute and functional additives.
At present, the top 10 lithium battery electrolyte companies are mainly researching the composition of additives, and they all have their own additive technologies. But both liquid electrolytes and gel electrolytes have safety risks. Therefore, a large number of electrolyte companies around the world are constantly conducting research on solid electrolytes.
● Separators
In the lithium battery market, lithium battery separators mainly include three types of PP/PE/PP three-layer composite film, single-layer PE separator and single-layer PP separator. Although the cost of PP/PE/PP three-layer composite film is low and does not pollute the environment, the production process is relatively complicated and it is difficult to meet the ultra-thin requirement.
The single-layer PE separator can meet the ultra-thin requirement, but its cost is particularly high. The cost of a single-layer PP separator is not high, but it will heat up rapidly in the event of a short circuit. In addition, the separator is mainly manufactured by a dry method and a wet method.
The process of the dry method is relatively simple, and can produce single-layer films and composite films, while the wet method can only be applied to single-layer films. Therefore, most companies around the world will use dry-process separators in large quantities for manufacturing.
3. Global lithium battery applications
● 3C field
The 3C field mainly refers to the fields of electronic products, communications and computers. In recent years, lithium batteries have been widely used in mobile phones, tablet computers, and notebook computers. According to the different demands of the lithium battery market, the proportions of different forms of batteries in the market are also different.
At present, the lithium battery market in China, South Korea and Japan occupy a dominant position in the 3C field. The top 10 lithium battery companies in the world mainly include Samsung and Panasonic.
● EV market
Traditional electric vehicles have a relatively long development time due to their high economy. However, several electric vehicle traffic accidents in the world have hindered the development of the traditional electric vehicle market. Since the energy storage energy of lithium batteries is much higher than that of traditional batteries, it has a better development space.
Therefore, the application of the lithium battery market in electric vehicles has received great attention. Due to the extensive application of lithium batteries in electric vehicles, the production cost of lithium batteries has been reduced. However, the application of lithium batteries in electric vehicles has not developed as expected.
● Energy storage market
For the application of lithium battery market in energy storage, companies in most countries are still in the initial stage of demonstration. The cost of lithium battery application in the energy storage market is relatively high, and research and development must be continued with government funding.
In view of the application of lithium batteries in the energy storage market, it is difficult for lithium batteries to develop rapidly in a period of time in the energy storage market. Therefore, the cost issue has become a hindrance to the application of lithium battery market in energy storage.
4. The overall development of the Chinese lithium battery market
Due to the influence of the world economy, the development of China's lithium battery market is slow. China's lithium battery has developed very well in the 3C field, but in terms of electric vehicles, the development speed of lithium battery is slow and cannot achieve the expected development speed.
At present, the income of lithium batteries in other countries is about ten times that of China. This makes China must gradually recognize the current development trend, have a certain strength, and increase the development speed of China's lithium batteries.
5. Conclusion
To sum up, with the development of science and technology, lithium batteries have been widely used by people around the world. At present, the materials that make up the cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator of lithium batteries have made great progress in the world. A variety of materials directly affect the development of the lithium battery market.
For the application of lithium batteries in 3C, electric vehicles and energy storage markets, lithium battery companies should clarify the lithium battery market conditions and development environment, re-establish development goals, and improve the development of companies.
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