In the scheme of all-solid-state batteries, the cathode is mostly made of ultra-high nickel, lithium-rich manganese-based and other materials, and the silicon-based anode is gradually becoming the main force of the next generation of anode materials.
At present, in order to improve the performance of anode materials, solid-state batteries may be improved by adding new conductive agents. The main function of conductive agents is to improve the conductivity of electrons, and the amount of carbon nanotubes is expected to further increase in solid-state batteries due to their good electrical and thermal conductivity.
Carbon nanotubes have a wide range of applications in many fields such as lithium batteries, conductive plastics, and chip manufacturing.
At present, more than 75% of the demand for carbon nanotubes comes from the field of lithium battery conductive agents, and domestic carbon nanotube conductive agents have gradually replaced imported conductive agents.
In addition, carbon nanotubes are one of the main nanomaterials that have achieved industrial mass production in mainland China, and shipments have shown rapid growth in recent years, with a year-on-year increase of 18.09% in 2023, mainly due to the rapid growth of the power battery market.
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Overview of the carbon nanotube industry
The conductive agent plays the role of collecting microcurrent between the active material and between the active material and the current collector, thereby reducing the contact resistance of the electrode and accelerating the migration rate of electrons in the lithium battery.
Conductive carbon black and carbon nanotubes are two commonly used conductive agents that are mainly used in the positive and partial negative electrodes of batteries.
Conductive carbon black is mainly used by spherical bonding, and the material cost is relatively low, while carbon nanotubes are slightly more expensive due to the improvement of conductivity through linear connection.
Compared with traditional conductive carbon black, carbon nanotubes can further improve the rate performance of batteries.
Carbon nanotubes are a new type of graphite material that integrates CNTs into polymers, ceramics or metal matrices, which can significantly improve the conductivity and thermal conductivity of the host material.
In the silicon-based anode, the carbon nanotube conductive paste performs well, and the high mechanical strength can improve the stability of the silicon-based anode, and the excellent conductivity can make up for the shortcomings of the poor conductivity of the silicon-based anode, and at the same time, it can also effectively alleviate the structural collapse of the silicon-based anode in the process of lithium-ion deintercalation.
In the production process of lithium battery electrodes, carbon nanotubes, as a new conductive agent, can effectively improve the energy density of the battery and prolong the battery life. In addition, carbon nanotubes can significantly improve the conductivity and structural strength of conductive plastics.
Carbon nanotube structure:
Depending on the number of graphite layers, carbon nanotubes can be divided into multi-walled tubes and single-walled tubes.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes are tubular structures formed by the coiling of a single layer of graphite sheets, and the walls of the tubes are composed of only one layer of carbon atoms tightly arranged, usually between 1-2 nanometers in diameter, which is regarded as the limiting form of carbon nanotubes.
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes are coaxially nested from multiple to dozens of single-walled carbon nanotubes, which have more complex structural characteristics.
Carbon nanotubes can be divided into single-walled carbon nanotubes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes:
There are many methods for the preparation of carbon nanotubes, including chemical vapor deposition, laser evaporation, graphite arc method, and hydrothermal method.
Among them, the chemical vapor deposition method is adopted by most carbon nanotube manufacturers because of its significant advantages in industrial preparation and cost control.
At present, the batch preparation and application of carbon nanotubes have been preliminarily realized in the industry.
Carbon nanotube industry chain combing
The upstream of the carbon nanotube industry chain is mainly raw materials such as propylene and liquid nitrogen, and the downstream is used in the new energy vehicle industry, 3C digital industry, power infrastructure and semiconductor industry.
The main raw materials of carbon nanotubes include NMP, dispersants, propylene, etc., which are used in the manufacture of lithium batteries together with cathode and anode materials.
Diagram of carbon nanotube industry chain
The competition pattern of the carbon nanotube industry is sorted out
From the perspective of the development history of carbon nanotubes, the overseas market has many years of application history of traditional conductive agents such as carbon black, conductive graphite and VGCF, and the technology is very mature.
As the downstream demand for carbon nanotubes is limited overseas, there are relatively few manufacturers. At present, the global carbon nanotube conductive paste manufacturers are mainly concentrated in China.
The first three companies have a market share of about 80%, of which Tiannai Technology tops the list with a market share of 45%, followed by Jiyue Nano, Cabot (acquisition of Sanshun Nano to enter the field), Qingdao Haoxin (a subsidiary of Dow Technology) and Wuxi Dongheng.
Leading companies are expected to consolidate their advantages with advantages such as technology and customers, and as more companies enter the carbon nanotube industry, second-tier companies may face increased competition in the future.
Competitive landscape of carbon nanotube conductive paste:
Source: GGII, Xingxingcha
Jiangsu Tiannai Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2011 and is headquartered in Jiangsu. The company's products mainly include carbon nanotube powder, carbon nanotube conductive paste, graphene composite conductive paste, carbon nanotube conductive masterbatch, etc.; the company has mastered the core catalyst production technology, self-developed core technology of powder and slurry, and has the manufacturing capacity of core equipment. In the commercial application field, it has covered many fields such as lithium batteries, conductive polymer composite materials, antistatic coatings and tire rubber reinforcement. #固态电池##锂电池##财经##新能源汽车##新材料#
From an industry perspective, carbon nanotubes have significant advantages in improving the energy density and charging efficiency of solid-state batteries due to their excellent conductivity. With the rapid growth of the market demand for electric vehicles and the acceleration of the industrialization process of the solid-state battery industry, the application of carbon nanotubes is expected to replace the traditional conductive agents and has a broad market space.
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