The rapid growth of the power lithium battery market! Demand for carbon nanotubes is expanding!

Carbon Nanotube is a kind of polymer nanomaterials with stable performance. It belongs to the fuller carbon series. Its length is micrometer and its diameter is nanometer. Although the structure of carbon nanotube is similar to that of polymer materials, its structure is higher than that of polymer materials. Molecular materials are much more stable and are the materials with the highest melting point currently known.

Carbon nanotubes have unique structures and chemical bonds, unique mechanical, electrical, thermal and chemical properties, and have a wide range of applications. The current preparation methods of carbon nanotubes mainly include chemical vapor deposition, laser evaporation, graphite arc method, and hydrothermal method. The chemical vapor deposition method is commonly used in industry to prepare carbon nanotubes.

At present, commercialized and large-scale applications are mainly concentrated in lithium battery conductive agents and conductive plastics. According to estimates, more than 75% of the current demand for carbon nanotubes comes from the field of conductive agents for lithium batteries. The upstream chemical industry of the industrial chain is mainly propylene and liquid nitrogen; the downstream is used in lithium batteries to serve the new energy automobile industry and 3C digital industry, and it is used in conductive plastics to serve the power infrastructure and semiconductor industries.

Based on the outstanding electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes, an excellent lithium battery conductive agent can be prepared. In actual use, the energy density and cycle life of the lithium battery are enhanced by improving the conductivity of the positive and negative electrodes of the lithium battery. In the context of the global development of new energy vehicles, the rapid growth of the power lithium battery market directly drives the expansion of the demand for carbon nanotubes. GGII statistics show that the penetration rate of carbon nanotube conductive agents in the field of power lithium batteries has increased rapidly, reaching about 40% in 2019, and it is expected that this proportion will reach 60% by 2025.

Under the trend of localization of conductive agents for lithium batteries, carbon nanotubes, as one of the few conductive agents that do not rely on imports, and whose domestic production capacity is leading the world, will be more used in lithium battery conductive agents. Therefore, driven by the increase in “total amount” and “penetration rate”, the global carbon nanotube conductive paste market will maintain a rapid growth of more than 20% in the next 4 years. It is estimated that by 2023, the global and domestic output values will reach 5.5 billion yuan and 3.7 billion yuan.

There are many technical difficulties in the production process of carbon nanotubes from catalyst preparation to large-scale production to the selection of dispersants. The industry has high technical barriers and the market is concentrated. Global carbon nanotube production capacity is concentrated in China, Europe and the United States, with China accounting for 51.8%, ranking first. Companies with the highest annual production capacity of carbon nanotubes include Showa Denko and LG Chemical in East Asia, Arkema and Nanocyl in Europe, and Tina Technology and Sanshun Nano (acquired by Cabot) in China.

Tiannai Technology currently has an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of CNT slurry. In the third quarter, it is expected to add 20,000 tons of production capacity. At the same time, it will build new bases in Changzhou and the United States, contributing 50,000 tons and 8,000 tons of production capacity, respectively, and is improving its global layout. Under the circumstances, the production capacity is expected to reach more than 80,000 tons by the end of 2022. Tiannai Technology is currently the world's leading carbon nanotube manufacturer, in addition to Dow Technology (subsidiary Qingdao Haoxin produces carbon nanotubes) and Chujiang New Materials (subsidiary Dingli Technology produces carbon nanotubes). Recently, Ganzhou Haoxin New Energy Co., Ltd. invested 200 million yuan to build a carbon nanotube project with an annual output of 20,000 tons. The annual output value of the project will reach 600 million yuan after the project has fully reached the standard.

At present, the biggest growth driver of the carbon nanotube industry comes from the two major sectors of the lithium battery field-power lithium batteries and digital lithium batteries. With the increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles and the promotion of 5G mobile phones triggering a wave of replacement, the lithium battery industry will usher in a booming opportunity, driving the demand for lithium battery conductive paste; and new energy vehicles and 5G mobile phones for lithium batteries The continuous improvement of energy density and cycle life requirements will further highlight the advantages of carbon nanotube conductive paste and accelerate the penetration of conductive agents. The industry predicts that the global CNT demand will be 110,000 tons in 2021, and the market space will exceed 3 billion yuan, an increase of 80% year-on-year, and the compound growth rate will exceed 40% in the next five years.