Lithium Australia NL’s (ASX:LIT) (OTCMKTS:LMMFF) (FRA:3MW) wholly-owned subsidiary VSPC Ltd. – Very Small Particle Co. Ltd., Brisbane, Australia, has received notice of acceptance for the patent application for its proprietary cathode material manufacturing process from IP Australia, an agency of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Proactiveinvestors.com.au reports.
This notice of acceptance is for application P0018351AU, entitled ‘Method for Making Lithium Metal Phosphates‘.
The filing of the Australian patent application sets a worldwide priority date for the invention and provides 20 years of intellectual property protection within Australia.
“Providing practical solutions for EVs”
Lithium Australia (Perth, Western Australia) managing director Adrian Griffin said: “Acceptance of the patent application for the production of phosphate-based cathode materials for LIBs is a great step forward for the company.
“Lithium Australia/VSPC can now provide practical solutions for electric vehicle manufacturers seeking cobalt-free batteries.”
“Significant cost advantage”
He said: “Further, the company’s recent development of LMFP demonstrates the potential for phosphate-based, nickel- and cobalt-free batteries to achieve high energy densities, an ideal combination in terms of e-mobility applications.
“Patent protection will provide us with a significant cost advantage in the production cycle of what is currently the most rapidly expanding sector of the battery industry.”
Novel and inventive steps
VSPC is developing efficient and sustainable process technologies to manufacture materials for lithium-ion batteries.
During the past two years, VSPC has simplified its process for the production of lithium metal phosphate cathode powders, enabling the use of a broader range of raw materials as feed.
This has significantly reduced the cost of manufacturing lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) and other lithium metal phosphate materials, among them lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP).
The VSPC process includes novel and inventive steps.
Cathode material production
VSPC’s process technology offers numerous advantages for the manufacture of both LFP and LMFP, including:
- Flexibility with respect to the types of lithium raw materials selected as feed – lithium phosphate, lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide can be used;
- Precise, up-front control of process chemistry;
- The ability to control particle characteristics at both nano- and micro-scale;
- Simplified final-stage processing; and
- Optimised product morphology for energy-storage applications.
Reducing chemical costs
VSPC’s patented process technology reduces chemical costs by 15%, which is considerable, as chemicals used typically account for more than two-thirds of the entire cost of cathode material manufacture.
The technology also integrates well with VSPC’s upstream technology for low-cost production of iron reagents – an outcome of work under a project co-funded by the Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre.
This reduces chemical costs by a further 10%.
