How did the price of power batteries become so cheap?
Recently, the "High-Performance Graphite and Graphene Materials for Lithium-ion Batteries" project from Shenzhen won the second prize of the National Technology Invention Award. This research achievement was completed over more than 20 years by the teams of Professor Kang Feiyu from Tsinghua University Shenzhen Graduate School and Professor Yang Quan Hong from Tianjin University. During interviews, reporters learned that it is precisely the tireless efforts of these researchers that have made power batteries more affordable and enabled new energy vehicles to enter the lives of the general public.
What exactly is the use of this technology? How amazing is it? Why was it developed in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong? Recently, Professor Li Baohua of Tsinghua University Shenzhen Graduate School, one of the main contributors to the project, gave an exclusive interview to a reporter, revealing the mystery of this technology to readers.
How advanced is the technology? The lithium battery industry has become a three-way competition between China, Japan, and South Korea.
New energy vehicles mainly consist of a battery drive system, a motor system, an electronic control system, and assembly. The motor, electronic control system, and assembly are essentially the same as in traditional vehicles; the price difference lies in the battery drive system. In terms of cost structure, the battery drive system accounts for 30% to 45% of the cost of a new energy vehicle, and the power lithium battery accounts for approximately 75% to 85% of the cost of the battery drive system.
The core solution to the high price of new energy vehicles lies in reducing the initial procurement cost of power lithium batteries. The "High-Performance Graphite and Graphene Materials for Lithium-ion Batteries" project falls under the category of graphite and carbon product manufacturing technology within inorganic non-metallic materials. It optimizes the charge/discharge rate, cycle life, and high/low temperature performance of lithium-ion power batteries, significantly improving the deep processing technology and utilization level of my country's natural graphite resources, and enhancing the international competitiveness of my country's lithium-ion battery industry.
Just how advanced is this technology? Li Baohua explained the background and development of this project to reporters. It turns out that Japan was the first to develop the lithium-ion battery manufacturing industry, using artificial carbon graphite as the anode material for their lithium-ion batteries. This significantly promoted the commercialization of lithium-ion batteries. Why use artificial graphite? Because Japan lacks resources and has no natural graphite mineral reserves. Artificial graphite materials mainly come from the petrochemical and steel industries. At that time, the technology for artificial graphite anode materials was controlled by the Japanese. Later, South Korea also learned from Japanese technology, so the early lithium-ion battery market was dominated by Japan and South Korea. However, the high energy consumption and cost of artificial graphite preparation limited its price and application scale.
Unlike Japan and South Korea, my country possesses abundant natural graphite resources. If natural graphite can replace synthetic graphite in lithium-ion battery production, it will not only save energy and reduce costs, but also allow China to achieve a competitive advantage in the international market. The significance of this is self-evident. Therefore, my country began research on natural graphite in the last century, and Professor Kang Feiyu's team was one of the earliest research teams in China engaged in the deep processing and application of natural graphite.
The project team spent more than 20 years working on key technologies, from being the first in China to apply for invention patents for natural graphite anodes and breaking through key technologies, to achieving large-scale application of natural graphite and graphene. With the help of resource and technological advantages, they finally made lithium-ion batteries "high-quality and inexpensive", forming a three-way balance of power in the lithium-ion battery industry among China, Japan and South Korea.
Li Baohua used a set of figures to vividly illustrate to the reporter that before 2000, the price of one ton of lithium-ion battery anode material made from artificial graphite was 300,000 to 400,000 yuan; after 2000, it gradually dropped to the current price of 30,000 to 100,000 yuan. This has forced Japanese and South Korean battery companies to significantly reduce the price of lithium-ion batteries.
The annual output value of lithium-ion battery anode materials market at home and abroad is nearly 10 billion yuan, of which nearly 40% is made from the deep processing of natural graphite.
What are its unique features? It has already obtained 35 authorized invention patents and achieved industrial application.
Li Baohua explained that the project has been granted 35 invention patents. For example, it invented a binary co-intercalated flake graphite modification and micro-expansion technology, achieving low-cost graphite preparation; it developed commercially available micro-expansion modified graphite anode materials with rapid charging and discharging, a wide operating temperature range, and long cycle life, significantly shortening the charging and discharging time of lithium-ion batteries; it invented a method for preparing graphene under low-temperature negative pressure, achieving low-cost, large-scale preparation of high-quality graphene; and it proposed a graphene conductive agent application technology based on a "point-surface" model, among other things.
Li Baohua proudly stated, "This project has developed key materials and industrial integration technologies with independent intellectual property rights, significantly improving the battery's rapid charging and discharging, cycling, and high and low temperature performance. It has changed the industrial landscape, breaking the long-standing foreign monopoly on high-value-added processing technologies and the lack of high-end graphite industry in my country. It is of great significance to the development of the new energy and electric vehicle industries."
It is understood that the project's results have been industrialized and applied by several partner companies, including Shenzhen Xiangfenghua. The related products and technologies are mainly used by leading domestic lithium battery companies such as BYD, achieving good economic and social benefits.
Why Shenzhen? To collaborate with Nobel laureates to overcome challenges.
Why was such a significant technological project chosen for its application and industrialization in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong, ultimately bringing a major national award to Shenzhen, Guangdong?
Li Baohua told reporters that the project team initially conducted technical research in mainland China because of the high concentration of universities and research talent there. However, "the application of technology always involves a process of adjustment. We need to work closely with the industry to understand what companies need so that the technology can be truly used and improved step by step. The Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong is the largest lithium-ion battery production base in my country, so we chose to come to Guangdong."
Starting in 2002, the project team began to travel south to collaborate with manufacturing companies. For example, Li Baohua worked at a lithium-ion battery company for nearly three years, gradually understanding the company's true needs. Li Baohua said, "Lithium-ion battery manufacturers originally used Japanese and Korean technology, which created a kind of inertia, and they were initially resistant to our domestically produced technology. But as our cooperation deepened and we gained a better understanding of each other, our technology became more and more mature. Now we have finally established a complete industrial chain."
In Shenzhen, the municipal government prioritizes the development of new materials, new energy, and electric vehicle industries. In recent years, it has particularly supported technological innovation and industrial development in graphene materials, providing a favorable innovation environment and vast industrial development space for the research and application of this project. Shenzhen has listed graphene and other important fields as key areas for future government support. In 2017, the Shenzhen Geim Graphene Research Center (SGC), invested and constructed by the Shenzhen Municipal Government and managed by the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission, with Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute and Tsinghua University Shenzhen Graduate School as its supporting institutions, was inaugurated in Shenzhen. Under the leadership of Professor Andre Geim, the 2010 Nobel Prize laureate in Physics and one of the discoverers of graphene, the research center has built an internationally renowned scientific research platform, focusing on tackling key challenges in basic frontier research and high-end product industrialization of two-dimensional materials, represented by graphene. Ultimately, it has become a multi-functional service platform integrating R&D, standardization, and industrial testing.
Looking to the future, Li Baohua said that with the country's strong support for the development of the electric vehicle industry, the demand for high-end lithium-ion power batteries is constantly increasing. Therefore, high-performance and high-value-added key materials such as anodes and conductive agents have broad future market prospects.
