Battery tech: PolyJoule repurposes PVC for batteries; LS/L&F to construct US$780 mn EV battery materials plant in South Korea

US-based PolyJoule Inc, a manufacturer of conductive polymer energy storage, has developed a new process that transforms PVC (polyvinyl chloride) into PolyJoule’s patent-protected conductive polymers for use in batteries.

PVC is one of the top five most common plastics worldwide and is used in everything from window frames and doors to piping and packaging. Recent market reports indicate global production capacity exceeds 40 million metric tons per year, with over 10% installed in the United States alone.

“We see this as a major push in the broader sustainable initiatives taking place across the chemical and energy industries: how do we upcycle and how can we catalyse legacy supply chains into new, meaningful ones where the value is aligned with the consumer?” noted Dr. Eli Paster, CEO/Co-Founder of PolyJoule.

While most conventional battery metals like lithium and nickel are geographically supply-chain constrained, PVC is a commodity produced, used, and recycled on every continent. Using a small percentage of global PVC production capacity, PolyJoule estimates it could serve half of the 2027 projected annual stationary storage demand.

“This recent development is a major step towards PolyJoule’s targeted cell production cost of US$65/kWh,” he continued, “and we’re working to make the process compatible with both recycled and repurposed PVC.”

PolyJoule is a Boston-based, MIT spinoff, energy storage company pioneering conductive polymer battery technology.

In other news, LS Corp., the holding company of electric power equipment enterprise LS Group, is teaming up with a local battery materials producer, L&F Corp, to build a plant in South Korea for battery precursors. The companies plan to start up 120,000 tonnes/year battery precursor plant at Samangeum complex in South Korea as early as 2025-2026.

LS Corp. said it and L&F Corp., a Daegu-based producer of cathodes for lithium-ion batteries, will form the US$784 million joint venture for the factory.

The two will break ground on the plant this year and aim to produce battery precursors there no later than 2026. The plant will have a capacity of 220,000 tonnes/year in 2029, according to the companies.

The joint venture will be 55% owned by LS and 45% by L&F.

A precursor is a specific chemical form containing nickel, cobalt, manganese and aluminium before it is turned into cathodes, a key secondary battery material that determines the power and range of electric vehicle batteries.

Precursors account for 65-70% of the cost of cathodes.

LS and L&F are the latest in the battery components industry to join the Saemangeum complex, a reclaimed area in Gunsan, following similar projects under way by LG Chem Ltd. and SK On Co.

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