The German chemical giant wants to ride China's lithium battery boom

Germany's Evonik Industries AG, which has a 170-year history, is making lithium batteries its focus in the Chinese market.

"In the field of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, Evonik will bring four new products at this year's CIIE, three of which are global debuts." 'These products help improve the safety and durability of lithium-ion batteries,' said Xia Fuliang, president of Evonik Industries Greater China.

Evonik's first lithium-ion battery center in the world will also open in Shanghai on Nov 4.

The center is a one-stop service and test center for battery suppliers and automobile manufacturers. It will carry out the development and research of battery materials and help customers to carry out the test of battery prototype.

"From a business point of view, we want to be as close to our customers as possible, so it's a good choice for us to have our lithium-ion battery center in Shanghai."

One simple reason, explains Mr Xia, is that more than 90 per cent of the world's lithium-ion battery manufacturers are based in Asia, with most of the leading companies coming from China.

It is understood that Evonik is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in the Ruhr industrial area of Germany.

The company has a long history, dating back to 1843 as a precious metals refinery in Frankfurt. In 2021, Evonik's global sales reached 15 billion Euros, including about 1.6 billion euros in Greater China, with more than 2,700 employees.

The company provides a wide range of lithium battery application products, can effectively improve the function and performance of the battery, widely used in positive and negative electrode materials and diaphragm materials, battery thermal management system, and a number of leading domestic lithium battery manufacturing enterprises to carry out cooperation.

Evonik's many products are developed by local teams.

Xia Fuliang said, for example, CIIE first a new product, for lithium-ion battery adhesives. This adhesive series is applied to automotive PVC and acrylic plastic sol, which can promote the realization of high performance bonding, and is the key ingredient in the formulation of automotive sealant and anti-stone coating for body chassis.

"This series of adhesives is specifically designed for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. The product is locally developed in China and first launched globally." Xia Fuliang said.

At the same time, Evonik provides technical support for various chemical extraction metals for different processes of lithium ion battery recycling.

Evonik Strategic Innovation is developing an electrochemical process based on ceramic separation membranes that can efficiently recover lithium for the production of new batteries. The process is already undergoing technical testing and is expected to be commercialized in the next three to five years.

The soon-to-be-opened lithium-ion battery center, located in Evonik's Innovation Park in Shanghai, is its first lithium-ion battery center in the world and one of the company's six core R&D sites worldwide.

Evonik is expanding its manufacturing and R&D facilities to enhance its capabilities in specific technologies, with plans to double the number of employees at the Shanghai Innovation Park by 2027.

At the upcoming CIIE, Evonik plans to release a number of products, more than 10 of which will be released globally or in China. In addition to lithium battery related product lines, Evonik also has new biomaterials applied in the field of medicine and health, sustainable polymers applied in the field of consumer goods manufacturing and functional auxiliaries applied in the field of building protection.

"China is now the largest specialty chemicals market in the world and is critical to Evonik." Xia Fuliang said.