Lithium Supplement Additives Enhance Performance! Solid-State Batteries Require More Such Additives

Enterprises continue to ramp up their lithium supplement additives business for batteries.

In early September, Yongtai Technology announced that the company, along with its partners, would jointly invest in establishing a joint venture, which will serve as the industrialisation facility for its medium- to long-duration lithium battery technology development project. Previously, Yongtai Technology collaborated with Fudan University on the R&D of medium- to long-duration lithium battery technology, aiming to significantly enhance battery cycle life and break through the technical bottleneck of 10,000 charge-discharge cycles through the development of new materials and mechanisms. It is understood that one of the technologies in Yongtai Technology's medium- to long-duration lithium battery technology development project involves the use of lithium LiCF3SO3 as a lithium supplement additive to precisely replenish the missing lithium ions in the battery, restoring its capacity and maintaining long-term cycle life.

There are many types of lithium supplement additives, and recently, several companies have applied for new patents.

Information from the National Intellectual Property Administration shows that BYD Company Limited recently applied for a patent titled "Lithium Supplement Additive and Its Preparation Method, Lithium-Ion Battery, Battery Pack, and Electrical Equipment." The patent abstract indicates that its lithium supplement additive includes lithium supplementation particles and a coating layer covering the surface of the lithium supplementation particles.

In July this year, Guangzhou Rongjie Energy Technology Co., Ltd. applied for a patent titled "Preparation Method of Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode Lithium Supplement Additive and Lithium-Ion Battery." This patent involves the in-situ synthesis of the reaction product of a metal catalyst and a lithium source, such as LNO and LFO, within carbon nanotubes, resulting in a lithium-ion battery cathode lithium supplementation additive that can stably exist in air and compensate for electronic conductivity.

Notably, according to the No. 4 National Standard Announcement of 2025 issued by the National Standardization Administration, the world's first national standard for lithium supplementation technology, GB/T 45327-2025 "Lithium-Rich Lithium Ferrite," jointly developed by companies including Dynanonic, CATL, Gotion High-tech, Easpring Technology, Wanrun New Energy, Brunp Recycling, XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen), Ganfeng Lithium, Hunan Changyuan Lico, Fu'an Qingmei, and BASF Shanshan, was officially implemented on September 1. This will positively impact the technological advancement and industrialisation of the lithium supplement additive field.

• Important Performance Optimization Material

"Lithium supplement additives, as crucial materials for optimizing the performance of lithium-ion batteries, operate on the technical principle of compensating for active lithium loss during the initial charge-discharge process through pre-lithiation technology, thereby significantly enhancing the battery's initial Coulombic efficiency, energy density, and cycle stability," industry analysts pointed out.

To some extent, active lithium loss is a natural defect of lithium batteries. Whether in liquid or solid-state batteries, during the initial cycle of a lithium battery, a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film forms on the anode surface, leading to irreversible consumption of active lithium. By using lithium supplement additives for pre-lithiation treatment, the consumed lithium ions can be replenished in advance.

According to Yongtai Technology, the company's medium- to long-duration lithium battery technology development project uses lithium trifluoromethanesulfinate as a new-type organic lithium salt lithium supplement additive, which boasts a high theoretical specific capacity of 191 mAh/g and a low decomposition voltage of 3.8 V, allowing it to be fully decomposed during battery formation. This technology is suitable for multiple scenarios, including electrolyte lithium supplementation, cathode lithium supplementation, and battery repair, and requires no modification of existing production lines, offering simple processes and controllable costs.

"The lithium supplement additive of the present invention can adjust the rate of active lithium release based on ambient temperature, achieving adaptive adjustment of the lithium supplementation rate in different temperature zones of the battery cell, increasing the lithium supplementation rate and amount in high-temperature zones, and slowing it down in low-temperature zones," BYD stated in its patent application description. Its technology can improve the consistency of battery cell life across different temperature zones and prevent over-lithiation in local areas, thereby greatly extending battery cell life.
As a type of lithium supplement additive with a national standard, lithium-rich lithium ferrite is compatible with LFP battery systems. Wanrun New Energy revealed in its semi-annual report that the company has developed lithium-rich lithium ferrite with high capacity and excellent air stability prepared through advanced coating processes, which can effectively slow down capacity decay and is currently in the customer validation stage.

Solid-State Batteries May Double the Addition Amount

Research institutions predict that the global lithium supplement additive market size will reach approximately $2.4 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 100% in the coming years. Notably, with the development of the solid-state battery industry, some companies are also focusing on lithium supplement additive products for this field. Information from the National Intellectual Property Administration shows that Zhongke Rongneng (Yancheng) Technology Co., Ltd. recently applied for a patent titled "A Composite Lithium Supplementation Technology and Process Method for Solid-State Batteries."
The patent abstract of Zhongke Rongneng indicates that this composite lithium supplementation technology and process method for solid-state batteries involves pre-lithiation of the cathode by adding an appropriate content and type of lithium-rich compound as a lithium supplement additive during the cathode slurry mixing process, compensating for lithium consumption during the initial charging process, improving the overall active material capacity per gram performance, enhancing initial charge-discharge efficiency, and contributing to the battery's ultra-long cycle life.

"The company's existing products, such as lithium supplementation enhancers, are suitable for solid-state battery systems. They are already in practical use with some customers. According to estimates, the addition amount and proportion of lithium supplement additives in solid-state and semi-solid-state batteries are greater than those in current liquid battery systems," Dynanonic revealed. The company has completed the construction of a 5,000 mt capacity for lithium supplementation enhancers.

According to Anda Technology, the company's lithium supplement additive product has completed pilot testing and is currently being actively introduced to customers, expected to help them form a differentiated product competitive advantage. Its lithium supplement additive product can significantly delay capacity decay in solid-state batteries, with the addition amount in solid-state batteries expected to double, and long-term market space potentially exceeding 10 billion yuan.

"Although the current main application market for lithium supplement additives is liquid electrolyte lithium batteries, it is expected that lithium supplement additives will achieve higher addition amounts in solid-state batteries, thereby possessing long-term market value," Anda Technology stated.

Please note that this news is sourced from https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vKY0omYGoTeSFNX8IJcujg and translated by SMM.