PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --
-- Enables Higher Capacity, Longer Life
Batteries --
-- Improves Safety and Sustainability, Reduces
Manufacturing Costs --
-- Can Be Applied Using Standard Industry Equipment and Scaling
Methods --
-- Advances Development of Next Generation Batteries
--
Livent Corporation (NYSE: LTHM) today announced its proprietary
LIOVIX™ lithium metal product, a unique printable
formulation of lithium metal and other specialty materials that can
improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries, reduce
manufacturing costs and enable the next generation of battery
technology, all while enhancing safety and sustainability.
"Our customers continue to look to us for innovative and
sustainable solutions that can improve battery performance, safety
and manufacturing efficiency. We look forward to bringing
LIOVIX™ to the market in the future as a product to
help meet these growing requirements while opening pathways for the
development of next generation battery technology," said
Paul Graves, president and chief
executive officer of Livent.
Improved Battery Performance
LIOVIX™ can be printed on a battery's anode during
electrode manufacturing in a process called pre-lithiation.
This has led to higher capacity, longer life batteries.
In fact, the application of LIOVIX™ has been
demonstrated through initial testing to improve a battery's output
and to extend its useful life with more recharge cycles than
conventional batteries.
Safety and Sustainability Benefits
Beyond improving battery performance, LIOVIX™ is
expected to enhance the safety and sustainability profile of
lithium-ion batteries. The safety improvement is largely a
result of the properties of the unique printable formulation of
LIOVIX™. Since LIOVIX™ delivers
lithium in a highly stable, protected form, it reduces the need for
stringent environmental conditions and advanced manufacturing
process controls.
The immediate sustainability benefits of LIOVIX™
are expected to come from providing battery manufacturers with
greater control and precision in how much lithium they use in
battery cell production. This is expected to help reduce
wasted material and costs and allow for high process efficiency
(i.e., throughput). LIOVIX™ can potentially
reduce the use of conflict and rare earth minerals in battery
production by opening pathways for increased use of more accessible
battery materials like silicone, manganese and even sulfur.
Manufacturing Efficiencies and Commercial Scalability
There are several potential cost savings and efficiencies for
manufacturers using LIOVIX™ that are tied directly to
the performance gains in battery capacity and cyclability.
These range from needing to include fewer cells in a battery pack
to achieve the same output to reducing the number of manufacturer
warranty claims because of the battery's longer useful life.
Additionally, LIOVIX™ is expected to significantly
reduce the need for a cell manufacturing process step called
"formation," which may lower overall costs and free up space on the
manufacturing floor.
Another unique feature of LIOVIX™ is its expected
commercial scalability. It is anticipated that
LIOVIX™ can be incorporated into existing battery
manufacturing processes using standard equipment and common
industry methods for scaling operations. Each method is
designed to fit specific product requirements, and no changes are
expected to be required to the electrode manufacturing
process.
"Our customers need commercially scalable solutions that add
value to the battery without adding cost to the battery
manufacturing process, so it was imperative for us that
LIOVIX™ improve both the attributes of the battery
itself and the way in which it is produced. We believe we
have successfully achieved this balance and are encouraged by the
data and feedback from our pilot users. We are excited about
introducing LIOVIX™ to the broader market," said
Walter Czarnecki, chief commercial
officer for Livent.
Laying the Groundwork for Next Generation Batteries
LIOVIX™ should also be an important technology for
the eventual development and commercialization of solid-state
batteries using lithium metal. These next generation
batteries will address many of the challenges and limitations of
today's liquid electrolyte-based battery cells.
"Our R&D team is proud to continue our close collaboration
with some of the most innovative companies in the world.
Together, we are advancing the state-of-the-art in battery
technology and taking meaningful steps towards realizing the
potential of solid-state battery technologies," said Marina Yakovleva, director of research and
development and new business development for Livent.
"LIOVIX™ is expected to be a significant yet
practical addition to Livent's product portfolio and builds on our
rich heritage of pioneering innovation and industry firsts."
For more information about LIOVIX™, visit
livent.com/LIOVIX.
About Livent
For nearly eight decades,
Livent has partnered with its customers to safely and sustainably
use lithium to power the world. Livent is one of only a small
number of companies with the capability, reputation, and know-how
to produce high-quality finished lithium compounds that are helping
meet the growing demand for lithium. The company has one of the
broadest product portfolios in the industry, powering demand for
green energy, modern mobility, the mobile economy, and specialized
innovations, including light alloys and lubricants. Livent employs
more than 900 people throughout the world and operates
manufacturing sites in the United
States, England,
India, China and Argentina. For more information,
visit Livent.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements in this news release are
forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these
statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "will,"
"will continue to," "will likely result," "should," "expect,"
"expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believe,"
"believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue,"
"could," "forecast," "future," "is confident that," "plans," or
"projects," the negative of these terms and other comparable
terminology. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to
risks, uncertainties and assumptions about Livent and LIOVIX™, may
include projections of Livent's future financial performance,
anticipated growth strategies and trends in Livent's business, and
the commercial development, market acceptance and customer demand
of LIOVIX™. These statements are only predictions based on Livent's
current expectations and projections about future events. There are
important factors that could cause the actual results, level of
activity, performance or achievements of Livent and LIOVIX™ to
differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance
or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Currently, one of the most significant factors is the
adverse effect of the current coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic on
our business. The ultimate extent to which COVID-19 impacts us will
depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and
cannot be predicted with confidence, including the scope, severity
and duration of the pandemic, the actions taken to contain the
pandemic or mitigate its impact, and the direct and indirect
economic effects of the pandemic and containment measures, among
others. Additional factors that could cause the actual results,
level of activity, performance or achievements of Livent and
LIOVIX™ to differ materially from the results, level of activity,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements include a decline in the growth in
demand for electric vehicles; supply chain disruptions in
the electric vehicle manufacturing industry, such as in the
availability and price of semiconductors; volatility in the price
for performance lithium compounds; adverse global economic
conditions; competition; quarterly and annual fluctuations of our
operating results; risks relating to Livent's planned production
expansion and related capital expenditures, including any further
suspension of our expansion efforts; the potential development and
adoption of battery technologies that do not rely on performance
lithium compounds as an input; liquidity and access to credit;
reduced customer demand, or delays in growth of customer demand,
for higher performance lithium compounds; the success of Livent's
research and development efforts (including those efforts to safely
and effectively commercialize LIOVIX™); risks inherent in
international operations and sales, including political, financial
and operational risks specific to Argentina, China and other countries where Livent has
active operations; the present lack of commercial customers for
LIOVIX™; customer concentration and the delay or loss of, or
significant reduction in orders from, large customers; failure to
satisfy customer quality standards; fluctuations in the price of
energy and certain raw materials; employee attraction and
retention; union relations; cybersecurity breaches; our ability to
protect our intellectual property rights; the lack of proven
reserves; legal and regulatory proceedings; including any
shareholder lawsuits; compliance with environmental, health and
safety laws; changes in tax laws; risks related to our separation
from FMC Corporation; risks related to ownership of our common
stock, including price fluctuations and lack of dividends; events
outside our control that could prevent us from achieving our
sustainability goals; as well as the other factors described under
the caption entitled "Risk Factors" in Livent's 2020 Form 10-K
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 26, 2021 and our subsequent Forms 10-Q
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although Livent
believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking
statements are reasonable, Livent cannot guarantee future results,
level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither
Livent nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy
and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Livent
is under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements
after the date of this news release to conform its prior statements
to actual results or revised expectations.
Media contact: Juan Carlos Cruz +1.215.299.6170
juan.carlos.cruz@livent.com
Investor contact: Daniel Rosen +1.215.299.6208
daniel.rosen@livent.com
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SOURCE Livent Corporation