According to foreign media reports, on April 27, local time, South Korean LG Chemical (LG Chem) announced that it would invest about 65 billion won (about 0.374 billion yuan) before the first quarter of next year, the output of its carbon nanotubes (CNT) factory in Lishui city will be increased by 1200 tons. Once the expansion is completed, the total capacity of LG Chemical carbon nanotubes can reach 1700 tons.
CNT is a new generation of material. Its conductivity and thermal conductivity are equivalent to those of copper and diamond, but its strength is 100 times that of steel. Because the performance is superior to the existing materials, it has a wide range of applications and can be used for batteries, semiconductors, automobile parts and aircraft bodies.
LG Chemical said that the expansion is aimed at the global electric vehicle market and CNT market. Recently, as CNT is used as anode conductive additive for lithium ion batteries, the market has grown rapidly.
Compared with the current use of carbon black as anode conductive additive, the use of CNT can increase the conductivity by more than 10%, and can reduce the use of 30% conductive materials, and the anode can be filled with required materials, in order to improve the capacity of lithium ion battery and prolong its service life.
Due to the above characteristics, it is estimated that by 2024, the demand of CNT will grow rapidly at an average annual rate of about 34%, and the annual production capacity will increase from 3,000 tons last year to 13,000 tons. Therefore, as a global leader in electric vehicle batteries, LG Chemical plans to adopt CNT lithium ion batteries to further enhance its product competitiveness.
In addition, LG Chemical also plans to empower CNT to global IT materials companies and terminal automakers in North America, Europe and China, and gradually increase sales. In 2022, its expansion plan will be resumed.
Through this investment, LG Chemical can accelerate the implementation of product structure upgrading strategy based on its excellent technology to enter petrochemical industry.
LG Chemical has developed the world's largest fluidized bed reactor, built a large-scale production system, and actively aimed at the market by using the existing CNT powder and various products such as compressed CNT which are convenient for customers to use. In addition, LG Chemical also plans to study a variety of new uses of CNT, such as the complete set of templates used for large mold casting in construction industry, the semi-conductive layer used in high-voltage cable sheath, high-strength concrete for construction, etc, and bring this kind of products to the market.
