BASF Expands Battery Anode Binder Production Capacity in the United States

BASF announced that it has significantly expanded its production capacity in the United States and has now started producing Licity anode binders to support the rapidly growing lithium-ion battery industry. With this expansion, BASF will provide the Licity product range globally. The company expects that battery manufacturers and OEMs will continue to focus on local supply of raw materials and global supply chain stability in the coming years.

The Licity product range complements BASF's existing styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) production sites and further consolidates its technological advantages in this field. Currently, BASF has multiple production sites in Jiangsu and Guangdong, China, Ludwigshafen, Germany, Hamina, Finland, and Monaca, Pennsylvania and Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States, dedicated to providing SBR binders for electric vehicle batteries.

Although small in size, anode binders play a vital role in battery performance and stability. BASF's water-based anode binders provide a sustainable option with high quality and stable performance. These innovative binders not only increase battery capacity and enhance cycle stability, but also shorten battery charging time. Licity binders can also be customized to meet different technical requirements such as pure graphite or silicon-containing anodes, and are widely used in electric vehicles, energy storage systems and consumer electronics.

Denise Hartmann, Senior Vice President of Dispersions and Resins, BASF Americas, said: "This is an important milestone for the North American battery industry. With the expansion of Licity anode binder production capacity in the United States, we are very pleased to further support the growth of global customer demand."

BASF's binders are specifically designed to overcome the various performance limitations of lithium-ion batteries. They use water-based formulations with high colloidal stability and are highly compatible with auxiliary binders such as carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC).