ENPlus Initiates Construction of Mass Production Facility for Graphene-Based Secondary Battery Anode Materials

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] ENPlus announced on the 24th that it will make a new investment of 15 billion KRW. The company will actively establish a mass production facility for graphene-based secondary battery conductive materials.

Funds will be invested to build new factories and mass production equipment for secondary battery carbon nanotubes (CNT), conductive materials, and graphene supercapacitors. A factory will be constructed in the Jeollabuk-do Gimje Free Trade Zone in January next year, along with the installation of mass production facilities. With this facility investment as a turning point, ENPlus will promote its graphene-based secondary battery business.

The anode for secondary batteries will apply graphene conductive materials with excellent elasticity and conductivity to increase the driving range of electric vehicles and suppress the volume expansion of high-capacity anode material silicon. The cathode will use non-ferrous CNT catalysts and CNT-based conductive materials developed and applied to improve energy density and lifespan.

If iron is included in secondary batteries, stability becomes vulnerable, and companies mass-producing iron-free non-ferrous CNT are extremely rare.

ENPlus has also applied graphene-based conductive materials to solid-state batteries, which are attracting attention as next-generation batteries, and has achieved good results from overseas customers. Solid-state batteries use high-capacity lithium metal for the anode. It has been difficult to bond it without gaps to the existing copper (Cu) current collector, which has been an obstacle to increasing capacity and improving lifespan.

ENPlus is known to have demonstrated excellent performance such as increased capacity, improved lifespan, and enhanced productivity by applying a technology that coats the graphene solution for solid-state batteries between lithium metal and the copper current collector and bonds them without gaps.

An ENPlus official explained, "If iron is included in secondary batteries, stability becomes vulnerable, and companies mass-producing iron-free non-ferrous CNT are extremely rare."

He added, "ENPlus has succeeded in developing composite conductive materials combining graphene and CNT, which are core materials for secondary batteries. We have supplied samples for testing and mass production approval to domestic and overseas customers and received favorable evaluations."

Furthermore, he said, "Based on our technological capabilities, we will establish mass production facilities this time to accelerate our secondary battery business."

According to energy-specialized market research firm SNE Research, the global battery market is expected to reach 180 billion USD (approximately 211 trillion KRW) by 2025, surpassing the memory semiconductor market size of 150 billion USD.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.