Korea Zinc Partners with Taesung and Neo Battery Materials to Commercialize Composite Copper Foil

Responding to the spread of small mobility devices
such as drones and humanoid robots

Korea Zinc has begun collaborating with Taesung and Neo Battery Materials Korea to commercialize composite copper foil, which is attracting attention as a next-generation core battery material.

From left: Kim Jonghak, CEO of Taesung; Kim Seunghyun, Onsan Smelter Plant Manager at Korea Zinc; Jeong Junsik, Vice President of Neo Battery Materials Korea. Provided by Korea Zinc

Korea Zinc announced on February 4 that on January 28 it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the two companies at its Onsan Smelter in Ulsan for the "development of high-performance batteries equipped with composite copper foil for drones and robots." The partnership is intended to proactively respond to growing demand for next-generation battery materials driven by the spread of small mobility devices such as drones and humanoid robots.

Composite copper foil is a current collector for the anode whose core is made of polymer material to reduce copper usage. Compared with conventional copper foil, it is characterized by combining price competitiveness, light weight, and safety. In particular, it can mitigate the drawbacks of silicon anode materials, which suffer from expansion issues during charging, and is therefore drawing attention as a next-generation battery material.

The three companies will jointly carry out the entire process from composite copper foil material development to application in battery cells, and further to the production and validation of prototypes of small batteries and drones and robots. Korea Zinc and Taesung will be responsible for developing the composite copper foil material and evaluating its performance, while Neo Battery Materials Korea will be in charge of evaluating battery cell performance.

A Korea Zinc official said, "If we succeed in validating small mobility prototypes equipped with composite copper foil by the end of this year, it will be the first such case in Korea," adding, "This is a meaningful attempt to diversify our battery material portfolio and secure an early lead in the next-generation market."

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