Detailed explanation of 6s lipo battery cathode material

From the perspective of the cost structure of 6s lipo battery, the positive electrode, negative electrode, electrolyte and separator are the four key raw materials, and their proportion in the cost is much higher than that of other materials such as wire harnesses, connectors and conductive agents. This is similar to 6s lipo battery. The basic working principle is the same. Next, the professional 6s lipo battery manufacturer CNHL will introduce the cathode materials of the above four materials in detail.
Regarding the electrolyte content of 6s lipo battery, the following article has a detailed introduction, and interested partners can check it out by themselves:
Cnhl 6s lipo battery electrolyte, practical function and classic system construction

6s lipo battery cathode material

At present, the cathode material is the core material of the 6s lipo battery, and it is the key factor that determines the performance of the 6s lipo battery. It has a direct impact on the final energy density, voltage, service life and safety of the product. It is also the most expensive part of the 6s lipo battery. . For this reason, 6s lipo battery is often named after the positive electrode material, such as the ternary battery, which is the 6s lipo battery that uses the ternary material as the positive electrode.
The difference between different cathode materials is obvious, and the application fields are also different. Common cathode materials can be divided into lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), lithium manganate (LMO), lithium iron phosphate (LFP), and ternary materials (NCM).

1) Lithium cobalt oxide 6s lipo battery cathode material

It is the first commercialized cathode material of 6s lipo battery. Its energy density is higher than that of rechargeable batteries such as nickel-metal hydride and lead-acid. It first reflects the development potential of 6s lipo battery, but it is very expensive and has a low cycle life. It is only suitable for 3C electronic products. . Although lithium manganate has a low cost, its energy density is not good. It was used in the early slow-speed electric vehicles, such as battery cars, to a certain extent. Today, it is mainly used in power tools and energy storage fields, and is rarely seen in power batteries.
Currently mainly used in the field of electric vehicles, there are two technical routes of ternary materials and lithium iron phosphate. In 2020, the proportion of cathode materials for 6s lipo battery will be ranked first (46%) and second (25%).

2) Ternary 6s lipo battery positive electrode material

The core advantage is the high energy density. Under the same volume and quality, the battery life is far ahead of other technical routes. But its defects are also very obvious: poor safety, low ignition point when subjected to shock and high temperature environment. In recent safety tests such as acupuncture and overcharge, which are hotter, it is difficult for large-capacity power ternary batteries to pass the test. It is the defect in safety performance that has always limited the large-scale assembly and integrated application of the ternary material technology route.

3) Lithium iron phosphate 6s lipo battery cathode material

Iron phosphate is just the opposite of ternary materials, energy density (about the energy density of 6s lipo battery, the following article has a detailed introduction:
1200mah lipo battry energy density improvement - cell density improvement) and battery life are average, but the safety is very good. Its crystal structure is a unique olivine type, and the space skeleton structure is not easily deformed, so that it can remain stable in a high temperature environment.

6s lipo battery cathode material comparison

1) Security

The ternary material will begin to decompose and release oxygen at about 150 ℃ ~ 250 ℃, causing the electrolyte to burn. In contrast, the decomposition temperature of lithium iron phosphate is around 600 ℃, and the safety advantage is very obvious. Based on the above advantages, lithium iron phosphate can pass many safety tests that ternary batteries cannot pass.

2) Service life

On the other hand, the service life of iron phosphate 6s lipo battery also has a huge advantage, and its cycle times far exceed other technical routes, which is responding to the two key demands of electric vehicle consumers: safety and durability.
At present, the installed capacity of ternary batteries has declined, and the market share of iron phosphate 6s lipo battery is rapidly increasing. Statistics show that in 2020, the cumulative sales volume of domestic power batteries will reach 65.9GWh, of which 38.9GWh of Sanyuan 6s lipo battery is installed in vehicles, accounting for 61.1%, a cumulative decrease of 4.1%; iron phosphate 6s lipo battery installed 24.4GWh, accounting for 61.1% Compared with 38.3% and a cumulative increase of 20.6%, it has become the only type of power battery with a year-on-year increase in sales.

3) Price

In addition to the safety advantage, another major factor behind the rapid rise in sales of lithium iron phosphate is cheapness. For a long time, the main reason for the high cost of raw materials for ternary batteries (accounting for nearly 90%) is the large demand for cobalt. Cobalt is a rare mineral. It is very expensive and extremely unstable to mine. The price fluctuates wildly. The supply chain is also very fragile, which can easily affect downstream industries.
In the early years, due to the existence of government subsidies, the high cost of ternary batteries was not prominent, but with the continuous decline of subsidies in recent years, the cost pressure has become more and more heavy, forcing battery manufacturers to find less alternative materials.
The cost advantage of lithium iron phosphate is that it does not contain cobalt, and even when the price per ton is at a high level, it is much lower than that of ternary materials.
At the same time, with the rapid increase in the number of charging piles, it can also make up for the battery life of the iron phosphate 6s lipo battery. The battery life of a typical lithium iron phosphate electric vehicle is about 300~400km, which is enough to meet the needs of urban traffic. The ternary battery cannot reflect its core advantages in this application scenario.
Driven by the dual drive of cost and infrastructure, it is not surprising that more and more car companies choose the lithium iron phosphate technology route. Even the power battery giant CATL, which started with ternary batteries, is rapidly increasing the production capacity of iron phosphate 6s lipo battery and supplying iron phosphate 6s lipo battery for the standard battery life version of the domestic Tesla Model 3.

The development trend of Sanyuan 6s lipo battery

However, the development of ternary batteries has not stopped. The long-term trend of this technical route is to reduce costs through the ratio of high nickel and low cobalt, the so-called high nickel ternary material.
According to the proportion of the three elements of nickel, cobalt and manganese, ternary materials can be divided into four main types: 111, 523, 622 and 811. From the perspective of market share, the current 5-series (ie 523) ternary materials are still the mainstream. In 2020, the market share of the ternary material market will exceed 50%; the 8-series (ie 811) battery will break out due to the trend of high nickelization, and the market share will increase from 6% in 2018 to 24% in 2020. The potential huge.
On the one hand, the high nickel ternary 6s lipo battery reduces the use of expensive cobalt metal, and the cost is more controllable. On the other hand, the battery capacity is greatly increased, which is more in line with consumer needs. In recent years, the cruising range of domestic electric vehicles has increased rapidly, and high-nickel batteries have contributed.
However, correspondingly, the increase of nickel content means a rapid increase in the difficulty of processing, and the safety that has hidden dangers is further reduced. In 2020, when 811 batteries are assembled on a large scale, spontaneous combustion accidents occur frequently, causing this technical route to be questioned.
Only GAC Aion S, the first model to use 811 batteries on a large scale, is also the oldest model of 811 new energy vehicles. From May to August 2020, three consecutive spontaneous combustion accidents occurred, and these were only 811 batteries. The tip of the iceberg on fire. The safety defect of high-nickel ternary materials is a problem that battery manufacturers must solve. Otherwise, it will be difficult to convince passenger car consumers to buy them, and it is even more impossible to use them in commercial vehicles with higher safety requirements.

Sanyuan 6s lipo battery cathode new material

In addition to the nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) ternary material, there is also a ternary material that uses a nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) alloy as the positive electrode. Compared with NCM, the energy density of NCA is further improved, but the safety performance is still not much improved. At present, Tesla is the main user of nickel-cobalt-aluminum batteries, and in April 2020, it also applied for a patent for a new production technology that can improve battery life.
However, although it is favored by the leaders, the NCA technical route is very rare in China. In 2020, the shipments in the domestic ternary material market will only account for 4%, and Panasonic is currently the only major manufacturer in the world.
Well, the above is the whole content of the cathode material of 6s lipo battery brought to you by CNHL today. I believe that after reading the whole text, everyone has an understanding of the types of cathode materials of 6s lipo battery. The cathode material of 6s lipo battery is mainly lithium cobalt oxide. (LCO), Lithium Manganate (LMO), Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) and Ternary Materials (NCM). For more 6s lipo battery information, please click below: The development history of 1300mah 6s battery