Lfmp Battery

[Brayan Sedillo]

Alithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) battery is a lithium-iron phosphate battery (LFP) that includes manganese as a cathode component. As of 2023, multiple companies are readying LMFP batteries for commercial use.[1] Vendors claim that LMFP batteries can be competitive in cost with LFP, while achieving superior performance.[2]

Chinese battery company Gotion claims to have achieved weight energy density of 240 Wh/kg, a volume energy density of 525 Wh/l, and a duration of 1800-4000 cycles. Weight energy density at the pack level is 190 Wh/kg.[1]

Commercializing the technology involved reducing manganese dissolution at high temperatures, increasing conductivity and compaction density, granulation technology, and electrolyte additives are all challenges faced by LMFP batteries. [1] The company received a patent on its technology.[4]

VSPC has made significant progress towards improving the energy density of LFP LIB cells by adjusting its proprietary manufacturing processes to incorporate manganese into the cathode active material during production.

VSPC has successfully produced LMFP battery cells for testing. These cells, by virtue of their higher voltage, provide greater energy density than that of standard LFP cells. The discharge curves below are for cells manufactured from VSPC-produced LFP (left) and VSPC-produced LMFP (right). The higher voltage delivery of the LMFP cells results in an energy density increase of up to 25% when compared with the LFP cells. Globally, major LFP cell producers are striving to achieve similar increases in energy density by introducing manganese as a component of their cathode powder.

Being able to produce high-performance LIBs without the requirement for nickel or cobalt has many advantages, safety being paramount. Beyond that, the use of common bulk commodities such as manganese, iron and phosphorus reduces costs. Access to much more reliable supply chains is a further advantage.

Commercialisation of LMFP for the production of LIBs would eliminate the requirement for materials from regions in which human rights abuse (including the use of child labour) is rife. Moreover, as noted, using materials derived from industrial waste materials and spent batteries to create precursors for new LFP- or LMFP- type LIBs can enhance sustainability and reduce supply chain risk.

The discharge curves of battery cells with LFP and LFMP cathodes are very different. While LFP battery cells maintain a flat voltage curve from almost full to almost empty, LFMP battery cells have a big voltage drop at around 50 % of SoC (State of Charge).

When battery cells have different discharge curves they also require different BMS (Battery Management System) and GOM (Guess-o-Meter) algorithms. This is something that recently has become quite clear in the Tesla Model 3 SR+ made in China.

Anyway, LFMP and LNMO are the two most promising cobalt-free battery technologies for the near future and are expected to become available already next year. They are extremely safe, affordable and have decent energy density. Nonetheless, LFP batteries are getting better and with their proven reliability I expect them to be around for sometime to come.

On May 19, Gotion High Tech launched its L600 Astroinno LMFP battery cell and pack at the 12th Gotion Technology Conference in Hefei, China. The manganese-doped LMFP Astroinno battery is capable of powering an electric car for up to 1000 kilometers, the company says. (Of course, any car can travel 1000 km without charging if you stuff enough batteries into it.)

According to Cheng, after ten years of in-house research on lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) materials, Gotion High Tech has solved the challenges of manganese dissolution at high temperatures, low conductivity, and low compaction density through utilizing co-precipitation doping encapsulation technology, new granulation technology, and new electrolyte additives.

According to Cheng, in addition to the upgrade and innovation of the battery material system, there are also several technical breakthroughs and innovations concerning the Astroinno battery pack developed based on the new battery cell. It uses a double-sided liquid cooling sandwich and a minimalist design approach to reduce the number of structural parts in the battery pack by 45%. Those techniques also lower the weight of structural parts by 32%. The wiring harness for the battery pack drops from 303 meters to 80 meters. The pack energy density has reached 190 Wh/kg, which exceeds the energy density of many NCM battery packs currently on the market.

The Astroinno battery pack uses thermal insulation materials than can withstand temperatures up to 1200C and provide four layers of rapid heat exhausting channels. It has passed all penetration, hot box, overcharge, over-discharge, thermal runaway, crush, and short circuit tests based on the latest standards.

Gotion is planning to build a $2.3 billion battery factory in northern Michigan. The state has ponied up a long-term package of incentives to promote the idea, partly because the factory would add about 2,300 jobs to an area where employment opportunities are limited. But battery factories have become a flash point in the culture wars that are being promoted by xenophobic Americans.

Recently, Michigan has seen an increase in mining interest for nonferrous minerals. This shift is due to new technology and higher metal prices. Currently, there are multiple exploration efforts underway in the Upper Peninsula. These efforts are focused on the discovery of major copper, nickel, gold, zinc, platinum, palladium, uranium, and cobalt ore bodies. Fortunately, none of those activities cause any environmental damage at all.

Nor do any of the 12,000 fracked wells in the state that have been injected with chemical-laden water deep underground to release the oil and methane buried there. They are as pure as the driven snow, apparently. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Communists? No. Permanently poisoning the groundwater? Yes, please. Can we have some more?

The people opposed to the Gotion factory are apparently blissfully unaware that Michigan is hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs as companies move their operations to southern states where unions are nonexistent, wages are low, and moves are afoot to weaken child labor laws that have been in effect for nearly a century.

As an upgraded version of lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) is becoming a new hot spot in the power battery field. Whether it is an automaker, a battery manufacturer, or cathode active material manufacturer, they are all extending their footprint to this field.

According to incomplete statistics, NIO, CATL, BYD, CALB, Farasis Energy, Gotion High-Tech, Svolt Energy, Phylion, REPT BATTERO Energy, Hengchuang Nano, Dynanonic and other upstream and downstream players of the automotive industry chain are engaging in LFMP development.

Lithium manganese iron phosphate is a mixture of lithium iron phosphate and lithium manganese phosphate, and has the same structure as lithium iron phosphate. Therefore, lithium manganese iron phosphate has the same advantages of lithium iron phosphate including low cost, high safety performance, high thermal stability, no self-ignition due to acupuncture and overcharging, long cycle life, no risk of explosion, and at the same time makes up for the disadvantages of LFP.

In addition, compared with lithium iron phosphate, lithium manganese iron phosphate demonstrates better low temperature performance. According to Huajin Securities, the capacity retention rate of lithium manganese iron phosphate can reach 75% at -20C, while that of lithium iron phosphate is 60%-70%.

In addition, the agency also pointed out that due to the abundance of manganese ore resources in the world, the cost of lithium iron manganese phosphate is only about 5%-10% higher than that of lithium iron phosphate. And considering the improvement of the energy density, the cost per watt-hour of lithium manganese iron phosphate is slightly lower than that of lithium iron phosphate with regard to installation cost of batteries, and significantly lower than that of ternary batteries.

However, lithium manganese iron phosphate is not without disadvantages. For example, after adding manganese, the dissolution of manganese will lead to shortened cycle life, and poor charge and discharge capacity.

However, this will not put an end to the large-scale commercial application of lithium iron manganese phosphate, "and as it is still improving, its performance will be between lithium iron phosphate and ternary cathode material."

LFP batteries have their share of shortcomings, one of which is a lower energy density compared to NCM batteries. Consequently, cars equipped with these batteries face range limitations. However, research and development (R&D) have led to the advent of Lithium Manganese Iron Phosphate (LMFP) technology.

The structure of LMFP is similar to that of LFP, but it incorporates Manganese. It inherits the positive qualities of LFP batteries, such as low cost and high thermal stability, while also achieving a much higher energy density and low-temperature stability. LMFP batteries discharge high amounts of power quickly. Due to a higher operating voltage than LFP, their theoretical energy density can reach up to 230 Wh/kg, which is 15% to 20% higher than that of LFP batteries.

Due to abundant and easily available Manganese ore, LFMP batteries incur a cost about 21% higher than that of LFP batteries on a US$ per kg basis. However, when considering their higher energy density, the cost per watt-hour is approximately 5% lower, making it much more economical than ternary batteries. Overall, LFMP technology emerges as a cost-effective and safer solution for applications with higher performance requirements, such as EVs and large-scale stationary energy storage.

Various organizations are currently exploring ways to further reduce the cost of LMFP technology. Currently, the LMFP manufacturing process is similar to that of LFP, utilizing iron phosphate as a precursor mixed with lithium and manganese salt. However, there is a potential shift towards using powdered manganese-iron ore and phosphoric acid in the future, a change that could contribute to cost reduction.

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