Altech – Patent Submission For Alumina Coating Of Battery Materials

Highlights

• Lodgement of patent for alumina coating technology
• New product development targeting use in lithium-ion battery anode
• Potential improvements to lithium-ion battery life, capacity and cyclability

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Altech Chemicals Limited (Altech/the Company) (ASX: ATC) (FRA: A3Y) is pleased to announce that it has lodged a patent with IP Australia, for its invention of methods for coating anode active materials with alumina.

The patent describes Altech’s technology for alumina-containing coating. The alumina coating layer, when applied to anode materials such as graphite and silicon would serve as an artificial solid electrolyte interface (SEI), which is expected to reduce lithium ion losses during each charge and discharge cycle of a rechargeable lithium-ion battery (e.g. as used in electric vehicles), and also retard degradation of battery capacity.

On 12 September 2020, Altech announced that as a result of its ground-breaking research and development work, it was proceeding to an independent verification phase of its method for the alumina coating of graphite particles. In these first phase coating trials, Altech demonstrated that it was able to apply very uniform and consistent nano-metre scale alumina coating layers on graphite anode particles. The particles were examined at the University of Western Australia under an electron microscope, where a thin continuous, regular coating of alumina was observed.

A successful first round of battery testing of Altech’s alumina coated graphite has also been completed. For this test, a batch of battery electrodes were produced using non-coated standard anode grade graphite particles (the control) and a separate batch was produced that contained anode grade graphite particles coated with HPA using the Company’s technology. One hundred cycles of cell charge and discharge were completed and results for the coated graphite anodes compared to the non-coated anodes were positive and encouraging.

Click here to view the full ASX announcement.

About Altech Chemicals Ltd (ASX: ATC)

Altech Chemicals Ltd has developed the technology to nano-coat particles of graphite and silicon, typical of those used in lithium-ion batteries, with a layer of high purity alumina. The use of alumina coated graphite and silicon particles within a lithium-ion battery anode are offered as a solution to increased battery life, energy capacity and a reduction of the first-cycle-loss capacity. The Company recently announced the commencement of a pre-feasibility study for the construction of a battery materials HPA coating plant in the Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park, Saxony, Germany. Alumina feedstock for the plant would be supplied from Altech’s Malaysian high purity alumina (HPA) plant. The Company is currently working to close the balance of project finance for its vertically integrated (HPA) project that comprises a 4,500tpa high purity alumina (HPA) processing plant at Johor, Malaysia and a  100%-owned kaolin mine at Meckering, Western Australia.

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