Expansions; DuPont breaks ground on US$30 mn Chinese adhesives facility; Arkema opens tech centre for batteries & ups Kynar capacity by 50%

Materials firm DuPont has broken ground on its new US$30 million facility which will produce a range of materials to advance applications for electrification and lightweighting in support of growing demand for its automotive adhesives. It will be built at the Yangtze River International Chemical Industrial Park in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone and is expected to be fully operational by early 2023.

The new facility will offer process capability and quality, capacity to serve regional needs, access to transportation for shipping and logistics advantages and technical support to help ensure a world-class customer experience.

It will provide advanced solutions in adhesive technology including:

“As an important milestone in DuPont’s history, this investment reinforces our commitment to advance auto electrification and sustainability while strengthening our leadership in China and the Asian market,” said Tina Wu, Global Vice President, Advanced Solutions for DuPont Mobility & Materials. “This new manufacturing facility will produce industry-leading innovative products to support our auto customers as they transition to electric and hybrid vehicles.”

“As one of the first foreign companies to enter the China market, DuPont has a clear growth strategy that aligns with the objectives of transforming Zhangjiagang city through innovation, laying the foundation for mutual collaboration.” said Cai Jianfeng, Zhangjiagang Municipal Government Vice Chief and Acting Mayor, “This collaboration not only marks a new chapter for DuPont’s business in China, but also accelerates the development of Zhangjiagang’s innovative platform and high-quality growth advantages.”

DuPont Mobility & Materials business has manufacturing operations and R&D capabilities globally, in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

In a context of rapidly accelerating growth in electric mobility around the world, but also for stationary uses, renewable energy storage and electronics, improvements in battery performance, including greater energy density and shorter charging time, greater autonomy and lighter weight of vehicles, today represent key R&D areas to meet the challenge of energy transition.

Thus, French materials firm Arkema that provides PVDF for binders and separator coatings, lithium salts to improve cell performance, smart adhesives for cell-to-cell bonding, and bio-based polyamide 11 to cool battery lines, has opened a Centre of Excellence dedicated to batteries for clean mobility at its Pierre-Bénite Research Centre. On this occasion, it also announced a 50% increase in its Kynar PVDF fluoropolymer production capacities at its Pierre-Bénite site, to address the fast-growing demand for materials for lithium-ion batteries. Arkema now aims for sales of at least EUR1 billion in batteries by 2030.

The new research centre is equipped with design and analysis equipment, including a dry room and an electrode coating line. It draws on the scientific and technical complementarity of the Pierre-Bénite Research Centre’s researchers and will help accelerate the development of advanced materials and processes for future generations of more efficient, safer and more compact batteries. It was partly financed by the Région-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

Alongside this platform, a pilot line dedicated to the pre-industrialisation of the next generations of electrolytes for the batteries of the future is already operational.

The teams will conduct research with the group's academic partners (CNRS, CPE in Lyon, LEPMI in Grenoble and ENSCM in Montpellier), as well as with partners in the battery ecosystem, with which strategic agreements have been concluded (start-ups, manufacturers, gigafactories).

To support the exponential growth in demand for lithium-ion battery cell materials in Europe, Arkema also announced a 50% expansion of its Kynar fluoropolymer production capacity at its Pierre-Bénite site. These polymers are used as separators coatings or as cathode binders. New innovations and product ranges will also be offered, such as Kynar CTO, the new Kynar PVDF made from renewable sources. This new extension should come on stream in the first quarter of 2023.

These projects are aligned with the group's strategy aimed at accelerating its growth by fully leveraging its unique positioning in high-stakes markets such as batteries, and at offering its customers and partners innovative high-performance and breakthrough materials to help build a sustainable world.

This new Centre of Excellence, named the Christian Collette Centre of Excellence for Batteries, in honour of the group's R&D Vice President who passed away last April, was inaugurated in the presence of numerous customers, partners, and representatives of the State, the Region and the City.

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