Nano One's battery cathode Instant Pot

Global mining and metals company Rio Tinto has entered into a strategic partnership that includes a roughly US$10 million (C$12.5 million) investment in Nano One Materials Corp., a British Columbia-based company that has developed a technology equivalent to the "Instant Pot" of lithium battery cathode materials.

While there has been a lot of buzz about the hundreds of factories being constructed around the globe to manufacture the lithium batteries needed for the electric vehicle revolution, as well as the enormous quantities of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite that will need to be mined to supply these gigafactories, the mid-stream process of transforming metals into battery materials has largely been overlooked.

One of the reasons this intermediary step between mine and gigafactory has been ignored is the process is long, complex, and frankly, boring. It has neither the treasure hunting appeal of finding and producing the metal inputs or the tangibility of a finished battery ready to power a brand-new EV down the highway.

Here is an oversimplified recipe of the cathode materials-making process.

Battery metals such as nickel, manganese, and cobalt are each cooked up to produce metal sulfates. At the same time, lithium has its own initial cooking process that upgrades mined lithium carbonate to battery-grade lithium hydroxide. The battery metal sulfates are then all mixed together in the proportions that will ultimately be the cathode material and simmered, with a sodium sulfate material skimmed off as a waste. Now, you have a precursor cathode material with all the ingredients except for lithium. The previously cooked-up lithium hydroxide is mixed in this precursor cathode material and baked for a few days. In one final step, the resultant cathode material hot out of the kiln is put into another pot with a coating material and then baked again.

Long, complex, boring.

With Nano One's patented One Pot process, you throw the cathode metals, lithium carbonate, and coating material in a pot per the proportions called for by the cathode recipe – for example, an 811 NMC battery cathode material would get eight parts nickel, one part manganese, one part cobalt, lithium carbonate, and coating material – set the timer and cook. The lithium-infused precursor material that comes out of this Instant Pot of the lithium battery cathode sector gets put into a kiln for quick bake to get the finished product.

Not only is the Nano One process quicker, simpler, and less boring, it eliminates the sodium phosphate waste, emits 35% less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and uses 60% less water than the traditional lithium battery cathode material process.

The company says its simplified process has the potential to save thousands of dollars per metric ton of cathode material produced, which could help offset some of the soaring prices for lithium, nickel, and other ingredients.

"The global transition to a low-carbon electrified economy will require millions of tonnes of battery materials, so it is critically important to produce these materials efficiently and with the lowest environmental footprint," said Nano One Materials CEO Dan Blondal.

Rio Tinto agrees and believes Nano One's technology could play a major role in increasing efficiency and shrinking the environmental footprint between mines and gigafactories.

"Localized, clean and secure supply chains are critical for the success of the energy transition that is now underway and this requires partnerships with innovative companies like Nano One to help us differentiate, disrupt and accelerate the path to a net-zero future," said Marnie Finlayson, managing director of Rio Tinto's battery materials portfolio.

Promising One Pot partnership

Under an agreement between the global miner and disruptive battery materials innovator, Rio Tinto will invest US$10 million to buy a roughly 4.9% stake in Nano One. The two companies will also forge a strategic partnership that includes the study of Rio Tinto metals to go into the process and technical collaboration.

"Rio Tinto brings deep experience in high volume production and technology commercialization, as well as a growing battery metals business," Blondal added. "We are excited to be partnering with Rio Tinto, our shared vision will see many opportunities for collaboration as we drive for change."

In addition to the nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery chemistry mentioned in the recipe above, the Nano One Pot process can be used for lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP), and lithium-nickel-manganese-oxide (LNMO) battery chemistries.

In fact, the use of One Pot for LFP batteries is where Rio Tinto and Nano One will initially collaborate.

In May, Nano One announced that it had struck a deal to acquire Johnson Matthey Battery Materials Ltd., including that company's 2,400-metric-ton-per-year LFP cathode material production facility in Candiac, Quebec, for C$10.25 million (US$8 million).

In addition to this facility on a 400,000-square-foot property near Montreal, the Johnson Matthey team, with more than 360 years of scale-up and commercial production know-how, is staying with the project.

"We have worked with Nano One on a number of projects over the last year and having seen their innovations, we believe they have the potential to develop the Candiac site in the best way possible," said Johnson Matthey Battery Materials CEO Liam Condon. "We remain at the Candiac site until the end of the year and are fully committed to serving the needs of our customers."

Rio Tinto said its strategic investment in Nano One will go toward acquisition of the Candiac facility, converting it to the One Pot process for LFP and other battery chemistries, as well as technology and supply chain development.

The partners will also study Rio Tinto's battery metal products, including iron powders from the Rio Tinto Fer et Titane facility in Sorel-Tracy, Québec, as feedstock for One Pot cathode materials.

Rio Tinto will contribute know-how from its Critical Minerals and Technology Centre, which has developed a unique expertise in the extraction and processing of critical minerals such as lithium and scandium, as well as minerals from North American and international sources to further drive localization of the lithium-ion battery value chain.

"We are pleased to back and support Nano One's ambitions to drive for change and we look forward to bringing Rio Tinto's deep experience and know-how in commercialization and large scale projects to this exciting initiative," said Rio Tinto's Finlayson.

This partnership to commercialize Canadian innovation with Canadian raw materials in Canada has drawn praise from Ottawa.

"Canada has positioned itself as a global leader in critical minerals and batteries, and with partnerships like the one we see here today with Nano One, Rio Tinto and our government, we continue to see the growing success of the Canadian electric vehicle battery market," said Canada Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne.

"Critical minerals are a generational opportunity for Canada, and our government is committed to developing an end-to-end Canadian battery supply chain, from exploration to recycling," said Canada Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson. "This is why the partnership between Nano One and Rio Tinto is so promising – it's an example of the collaboration we need to develop a globally competitive supply chain that will position Canada to lead in the global energy transition."

A battery materials supply chain that is expected to be shorter, simpler, cheaper, and less boring, thanks to Nano One's Instant Pot of battery cathode materials technology.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News

With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.

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