Lotte develops nickel-plated foil for solid-state batteries

Lotte Energy Materials Corp., a major South Korean battery materials maker, said on Tuesday it has developed a nickel-plated copper foil for use in solid-state batteries — a game changer in the electric vehicle industry.

Nickel-plated copper foil, a next-generation electrolytic copper foil with a nickel coating on both sides, improves conductivity and surface corrosion resistance as a current collector for a sulfide solid-state battery. A copper foil, also known as elecfoil, is a thin foil that surrounds the anode, the negative end of a lithium-ion battery.

Lotte said it is testing samples of the nickel-plated copper foil for their manufacturing processes and form factors. The company has been cooperating with leading domestic EV battery makers since the early stages of its development to optimize them to solid-state batteries. 

The company, formerly Iljin Materials Co., is also researching nickel surface treatment to ensure adhesion to active materials.

“We aim to take the lead in the future industry by dominating the next-generation copper foil market, as the first Korean company to succeed at manufacturing copper foil,” said Lotte CEO Kim Yeon-seop.

COST COMPETITIVENESS

Sulfide-based batteries need either stainless foil, nickel foil or nickel-plated copper foil to prevent corrosion by sulfur.

Battery makers prefer nickel-plated copper foil due to the expense of stainless and nickel products, which hurt their cost competitiveness, according to Lotte.

The company’s nickel-plated copper foil can be customized in terms of nickel thickness and copper foil strength to meet clients’ varying needs.

Its nickel-plated copper foil maintains its original quality and functions without corrosion and discoloration caused by chemical reactions, Lotte said.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.