SPECIALTY CARBON BLACKS HIGH PERFORMANCE MATERIALS FOR ADVANCED LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES

SPECIALTY CARBON BLACKS HIGH PERFORMANCE MATERIALS FOR ADVANCED LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES

Introduction Cabot Corporation is a global performance materials company and we strive to be our customers commercial partner of choice. We have been a leading manufacturer of carbon black and other specialty chemicals for more than 135 years, and our global reach enables us to partner closely with customers to meet the highest standards for performance, quality, innovation and service. We are a key player in the provision of high performance materials and technology to many sectors of the energy. We have 44 global manufacturing locations, including sites throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Delivering battery performance through particle science expertise As demands on battery manufacturers grow with the increased use of advanced batteries in the automotive industry and storage of electricity on the grid, battery manufacturers are looking to performance materials companies like us to enable the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. Figure 1: Our precisely engineered specialty carbon additives offer a broad range of particle size, morphology and surface properties that deliver specific functionality. We bring unparalleled scale and technological depth when assisting our customers with a broad range of carbon and other particulate materials, such as metal oxides and composites. Our capabilities span the entire range of carbon particle size, morphology and surface properties desired by battery manufacturers and include the ability to control key properties independently, allowing our products to provide the specific functional properties valued in the customer s application. Particle OH O OH Property Conductivity Rheological Mechanical Surface properties Function Electrical conductivity, ionic conductivity, thermal conductivity, charge storage, contact resistance, insulating Dispersion, paste viscosity and solid loading, binder interaction, electrolyte storage capacity, thickening efficiency Electrode density, flexibility, compressibility, adhesion, hardness, stiffness, separator stability and porosity Moisture adsorption, adhesion, oxidation stability, inertness, electrolyte stability, electrolyte storage capacity Attribute Particle size Aggregate size Pore structure Surface chemistry Surface graphitization 2

HIGH PERFORMANCE MATERIALS FOR ADVANCED LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES We bring unparalleled scale and technological depth when assisting our customers with a broad range of carbon and other particulate materials, such as metal oxides and composites. 3

HIGH PERFORMANCE MATERIALS FOR ADVANCED LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES Lithium-ion batteries With the growth in applications for lithium-ion technology, including electric and hybrid electric vehicles and potentially for the storage of electricity on the grid, there is an increasing demand for new batteries that deliver both high power and high energy storage capability over their lifetime without a decline in performance and without compromising safety. We believe there is tremendous potential to extract greater performance from lithium-ion battery chemistries through innovation and optimization of conductive carbon additives. Conductivity is one of the most important factors affecting the performance of lithium-ion batteries, and battery manufacturers use carbon additives in the electrodes to improve conductivity, particularly in the cathode. Our LITX conductive carbon additives are specifically designed for the lithium-ion battery industry and are suitable for use in automotive, electronics, power tool and grid storage applications. Compared to conventional carbon additives, our LITX products have unique properties that can enable: Higher battery capacity and rate capability Higher battery stability to enable high voltage charging for high energy Improved battery cycle life Reduced battery manufacturing cost due to higher solids loading which enables higher coating speeds and reduced solvent use Good dispersibility for both solvent- and water-based electrode slurry processing to further reduce cost Cabot conductive carbon additives LITX HP Product characteristics Provides excellent electrode conductivity Improves energy density and rate capability Enables thick but flexible electrodes Improves battery cycle life Reduces the amount of conductive additive required Enables high solids loading paste for processing benefits LITX 300 Enables batteries with high energy density Improves electrode conductivity Excellent cycle life even at low loadings Improves mechanical properties enabling thicker electrodes Good dispersion in solvent slurries Used primarily as cathode additive LITX 200 High conductivity enables high power batteries Can be used at lower loading to improve energy density Excellent cycle life due to improved carbon stability Excellent dispersion in both solvent and aqueous slurries Enables high solid loading slurries which can reduce manufacturing cost Used as both cathode and anode additive 4

Our LITX family of products can be an excellent choice for battery designers that are trying to achieve higher capacity and improved rate capabilities with reduced cell resistance. Both LITX 300 and LITX HP carbon additives offer great electrical conductivity at low loadings. As shown in Figure 2, both LITX carbon additives can enable improved discharge capacities with reduced DCIR at low SOC than the standard carbon additive; LITX HP carbon additive provides the best performance. LITX products may also enable longer cycle life (as shown in Figure 3), especially for battery designs that operate at high temperatures. LITX products are more compressible than standard carbon additives. This enables denser electrodes along with easier calendering, leading to better adhesion and a reduced amount of binder, resulting in improved energy density. 23 Std. additive LITX 300 LITX HP 20% SOC DCIR [Ohms] Discharge capacity at 2C [mah g-1] 20 18 15 150 140 Cathode: NCM 622 at 30 mg/cm 2 Carbon loading at the cathode: 1 wt% Coin cell (half) at 25 ºC Better Better Relative capacity retention (%) 100 90 80 70 60 Std. additive Cathode: NCM 622 at 30 mg/cm 2 Carbon loading at the cathode: 1 wt% Full coin cell (graphite anode) at 1C/1C at45 ºC LITX HP 130 Std. additive LITX 300 LITX HP 50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Cycle number Figure 2: LITX products enable higher discharge capacity with reduced DCIR at low SOC Figure 3: LITX products can improve cycle life especially at high temperatures 5

HIGH PERFORMANCE MATERIALS FOR ADVANCED LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES Lithium-ion batteries (continued) In addition to having a positive impact on battery performance, LITX products can also significantly speed up the electrode coating process, resulting in cost savings, as shown in Figure 4. Because of the unique morphology of LITX products, they demand less solvent in paste preparation which can result in increased solid loading and a higher production rate because of faster coating speeds. Additional benefits are cost reduction and reduced environmental impact because less solvent is used in the electrode coating process. Viscosity (cp) 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 LITX 200 900 800 700 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Shear rate (s-1) Standard high surface area carbon blacks Standard low surface area carbon blacks NCM (medium sized) 45 wt.% total solids loading, 6 wt.% conductive additive, 6 wt.% PVDF After adjusting the solids loading to equal viscosity (5400 cpa s -1 ) at fixed shear rate (3.4 s -1 ) Total paste solids loading (wt.%) 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 NCM-111 Standard low surface area carbon blacks Standard high surface area carbon blacks LITX 200 25 0 2 4 6 8 10 Loading of carbon additive (wt.%) Full electrode paste wt.% PVDF = wt.% conductive additive LITX carbon additives have unique morphology that can enable manufacturing cost savings: Higher solids loading of the paste Faster coating speeds Less NMP required Figure 4: LITX carbon additives enable processing benefits that can result in manufacturing cost savings 6

Because of their unique surface properties, LITX products are easily dispersible in different types of solvent and water-based slurries used for electrode coating. Water-based slurries are particularly challenging because most carbon additives are hydrophobic and difficult to disperse in water. As shown in Figure 5, LITX 200 carbon additive exhibits some unique advantages in water-based slurries in terms of both the ease and uniformity of dispersion, resulting in lower slurry viscosity, which can improve battery performance and reduce the cost of materials and processing. Hydrophobic Hydrophilic Figure 5: LITX 200 carbon additive offers rheological (viscosity) benefits in aqueous slurries Our commitment to energy The world depends upon energy to drive industry, support commerce and care for communities. The world s energy consumption continues to increase, despite planned energy saving initiatives. Satisfying this demand while also striving for a sustainable environment will require not only reliable and safe energy production and distribution from today s technology, but novel solutions to enhance our power generation, storage, transmission and consumption for the future. We are committed to supporting that goal and we maintain development programs with industry bodies, institutes and universities across the world. We will continue to our expertise in small particle science to deliver solutions that meet the energy needs of today and the challenges of tomorrow. 7

NORTH AMERICA Cabot Corporation Business and Technology Center 157 Concord Road P.O. Box 7001 Billerica, MA 01821 - USA Technical service T +1 800 462 2313 Customer service T +1 678 297 1300 F +1 678 297 1245 SOUTH AMERICA Cabot Brasil Industria e Comericio Ltda. Rua do Paraiso 148-5 andar 04103-000 Sao Paolo, Brazil T +55 11 2144 6400 F +55 11 3253 0051 EUROPE Cabot Specialty Chemicals Coordination Center SIA Cabot Latvia 101 Mukusalas Street Riga, LV-1004, Latvia T +371 6705 0700 F +371 6705 0985 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA Cabot Dubai P.O. Box 17894 Jebel Ali Free Zone LOB 15, Office 424 Dubai United Arab Emirates T +371 6705 0700 F +371 6705 0985 ASIA PACIFIC Cabot China Ltd. 558 Shuangbai Road Shanghai 201108 China T +86 21 5175 8800 F +86 21 6434 5532 JAPAN Cabot Specialty Chemicals Inc. Sumitomo Shiba-Daimon Bldg. 3F 2-5-5 Shiba Daimon, Minato-ku Tokyo 105-0012 Japan T +81 3 6820 0255 F +81 3 5425 4500 The data and conclusions contained herein are based on work believed to be reliable, however, Cabot cannot and does not guarantee that similar results and/or conclusions will be obtained by others. This information is provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only. No guarantee or warranty as to this information, or any product to which it relates, is given or implied. This information may contain inaccuracies, errors or omissions and CABOT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AS TO (i) SUCH INFORMATION, (ii) ANY PRODUCT OR (iii) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT. In no event is Cabot responsible for, and Cabot does not accept and hereby disclaims liability for, any damages whatsoever in connection with the use of or reliance on this information or any product to which it relates. The LITX name is a registered trademark of Cabot Corporation. cabotcorp.com 2018 Cabot Corporation. R05 2/2018