Livent Announces LIOVIX™, a Proprietary Lithium Metal Product That Can Improve the Performance, Safety and Sustainability of Lithium-Ion Batteries
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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