Clever storage

With iron phosphate as a precursor for LFP cathode materials, the IPG business unit is one of the few Western suppliers worldwide.

One thing is certain: wherever electricity is generated and used, storage is necessary. Whether it's wind turbines, solar panels or even electric cars, China is ahead of the game in this area and is flooding the world with its batteries. “We want to use our iron phosphates as precursors in battery technology to help reduce this dependency,” says Murat Gürsoy, Head of Innovation at the IPG business unit. He estimates the economic potential of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to be very high: “We would be one of the few Western suppliers in this field.”

Sustainable battery materials
This convinced the LIVE jury. The research project will now receive financial support until 2028. The jury justified its decision as follows: “The project gives LANXESS a strategic advantage in the rapidly growing market for LFP batteries and positions the company as a pioneer in sustainable battery materials.”

Gürsoy and his team are currently still in the development phase. “We are testing our samples on a small scale first and then in our pilot plants. After that, we will send them to our potential customers. Their feedback is very important to us.” This work—testing, analyzing, modifying—requires time and, of course, expertise. But Gürsoy is optimistic: “We expect to be able to produce the first quantities in 2027.” Interest is high. As far as is known, there are currently no iron phosphate manufacturers with significant capacities on the North American continent.

Iron phosphate consists of iron and phosphorus, both of which are harmless to the environment and readily available – in contrast to the precursors commonly used for lithium-ion batteries, which consist of nickel, cobalt, and manganese. “The largest supplier of nickel is Russia, cobalt is mined under questionable conditions in the Congo, and the EU has once again classified manganese as a critical raw material for battery chemistry in 2023,” says Gürsoy. In addition, LFP batteries offer major advantages in terms of safety: for example, they are not as flammable.

Exemplary organic growth Iron phosphate production would initially take place in Krefeld-Uerdingen. This area of battery chemicals is a new business field for the IPG business unit and could represent exemplary organic growth within the Group. New business structures would also have to be created, for example in the marketing and sales areas.

Gürsoy's optimism is based on facts: even though sales of electric vehicles are currently sluggish, the market for stationary storage stations is developing very positively. In addition, the EU has made it clear through various subsidy programs and statements that it wants to become independent of Chinese manufacturers. The project would now also benefit from the high tariffs imposed on Chinese products in the US. “We are already in contact with US manufacturers who are interested in our research,” says Gürsoy.