What Is the Market Demand for LATP Electrolyte in the Solid-State Battery Oxide Family?

SMM News, November 10:
Key Points: LATP, leveraging its cost and synthesis advantages, is being rapidly adopted as a separator coating and electrode additive in solid-state and semi-solid-state batteries. The current market size is limited, approximately at the billion-level, primarily constrained by instability with lithium anodes and competition from technologies such as LLZO. It serves as an important transitional material in the short to medium term.

nate phosphate. It is a layered aluminum titanium phosphate, a NASICON-type oxide solid-state electrolyte. Compared to the high-cost LLZO series, LATP is widely used in solid-state and semi-solid-state batteries due to its ease of synthesis and low raw material cost.
At the same time, its simple process and low synthesis cost have led many enterprises to process and produce it, thereby "participating" in the solid-state battery industry.

I. How the Synthesis Method Is Simple:
LATP is typically prepared through precipitation reactions and low-temperature sintering processes. Hydroxides are transferred from one solvent to another to form a viscous solution; during low-temperature sintering, materials precipitate, forming porous metal oxide particles whose properties can be adjusted with additives.

1. Dry Mixing Method: LATP raw materials are mixed directly with organic alcohol powders (such as polyvinyl alcohol) and inorganic weak acid powders before sintering, eliminating the wet ball milling dispersion step. This method simplifies the process flow but requires controlled sintering temperatures to avoid material decomposition.

2. Sol-Gel Method: A sol is formed via hydrolysis and polycondensation of precursors, followed by drying and calcination to obtain the product. This method achieves material uniformity and high purity but involves multiple steps and is time-consuming.

3. Solid-State Reaction Method: Lithium sources, aluminum sources, and other raw materials are mixed and reacted at high temperatures. Some processes incorporate "low-temperature solid-state atmosphere sintering" to reduce lithium volatilization and lower energy consumption. This method is suitable for large-scale production but requires optimization of doping elements (such as germanium, lutetium) to enhance conductivity and stability.

II. Participants: Numerous domestically and overseas, with overseas participants mainly from Japan and Germany.
Companies producing LATP typically have deep expertise in specialized ceramics, fine chemicals, or battery materials. Their production equipment is similar to that used in inorganic material synthesis and lithium battery cathode/anode material synthesis.

1. Overseas Enterprises: Ohara Corporation (Japan: Ohara Corporation)
Ohara Corporation (Japan: Ohara Corporation): A benchmark and commercial leader in the global LATP field. Ohara is the earliest and currently the most well-known company capable of supplying commercial LATP glass-ceramic sheets (IC-STM). Many university laboratories and corporate R&D departments use Ohara's products for solid-state battery research. Product characteristics: Their products are prepared using glass processes, featuring dense structure and high strength. Mitsui Kinzoku (Japan: Mitsui Kinzoku): A major Japanese non-ferrous metal and electronic materials company with a comprehensive layout in the field of solid-state battery materials, including sulfide and oxide electrolytes. It possesses deep technical expertise in oxide electrolytes.

AGC (Japan: Asahi Glass Co.): Another Japanese giant in glass and ceramic materials, similar to Ohara in specialty glass and ceramic technology, and actively developing oxide electrolyte materials for solid-state batteries.

BASF (Germany: BASF): Status: The world's largest chemical company, its battery materials division conducts in-depth research on various battery technology routes. Through acquisitions and internal R&D, BASF holds numerous patents and has a significant technological layout in solid-state battery electrolytes, including oxide systems.

Schott (Germany: Schott Group): Status: A specialty glass/glass-ceramic manufacturer similar to Ohara, with the technical capability to produce thin, dense oxide electrolyte sheets, making it a potential LATP supplier.

2. Chinese Enterprises: WELION New Energy and Qingtao Energy Lead, with Nearly 100 Companies Including BTR, Tianmu, Jinlongyu, and Langu Participating

WELION New Energy: One of the leading enterprises in China's solid-state battery industry. While its flagship product is a semi-solid-state battery, its technology roadmap covers oxide electrolyte systems, and it has collaborated with NIO to launch car models equipped with semi-solid-state batteries. It conducts in-depth R&D and application of oxide electrolytes such as LATP.

Qingtao Energy: Originated with an oxide electrolyte technology route and has completed construction of mass production lines. Qingtao's solid-state battery products have been implemented in vehicles from automakers such as SAIC. Its core electrolyte materials include oxide systems like LLZO and LATP.

3. Market Demand

Currently, LATP is primarily used in separators, cathodes, and anodes. For separator coating, it replaces alumina to achieve better results, with costs 2–3 times higher than alumina. Based on a coating amount of 2–5g per m², market demand is estimated at the 3,000–5,000 mt level. For cathode and anode coating, with a mass proportion of 0.5%–5% (estimated at 2%), the addition per GWh (taking ternary battery as an example) is 60 kg. Assuming 30% of batteries require this addition, the scale reaches 10kt. Overall, market demand is not high. Specification Requirements: There are two types: powder with D50 ranging from 600 nm to 800 nm (i.e., 0.6 μm to 0.8 μm), while the slurry has a finer particle size. The price is calculated at 200 yuan/kg, with a high-end value between 2 billion and 4 billion yuan. Considering the substitution of products such as LLZO, the market volume is estimated at a scale of 1 billion yuan.

According to SMM projections, all-solid-state battery shipments are expected to reach 13.5 GWh by 2028, while semi-solid-state battery shipments are forecast to reach 160 GWh. By 2030, global lithium-ion battery demand is estimated to be around 2,800 GWh, with the compound annual growth rates from 2024 to 2030 for lithium-ion battery demand in EVs, ESS, and consumer electronics at approximately 11%, 27%, and 10%, respectively. The global penetration rate of solid-state batteries is projected to be around 0.1% in 2025, and is expected to reach about 4% for all-solid-state batteries by 2030. By 2035, the global penetration rate of solid-state batteries may approach 10%.

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