Milton Keynes — Integrals power has made a breakthrough in Lithium Manganese Iron Phosphate (LMFP) cathode active materials for battery cells. Applying its propriety materials technology and patented manufacturing process, the company has overcome the drop in specific capacity compared that typically occurs as the percentage of manganese in increased. The result is cathode active materials which support higher voltages and high energy density.
By overcoming this trade-off, these cathode active materials combine the best attributes of the Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) chemistries – relatively low cost, long cycle life, and good low temperature performance – with energy density comparable to more expensive Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) chemistries. This means electric vehicle range could increase by up to 20 per cent, or – for a given range – allow battery packs to become smaller and lighter.
The LMFP materials feature 80 per cent manganese, instead of the 50-70 per cent typically found in competing materials, and have higher specific capacity: 150mAh/g, while delivering a voltage of 4.1V (Vs 3.45V for LFP). Third-party testing by experts at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) have been completed on coin cells and now evaluated using EV-representative pouch cells. The developed materials will soon be available for cell suppliers, battery manufacturers, and OEMs to evaluate and benchmark.
Integrals Power Founder and CEO, Behnam Hormozi, said: “The challenge that the automotive industry has been trying to overcome for some time is to push up the percentage of manganese in LMFP cells to a high level while retaining the same specific capacity as LFP. Using traditional methods the more manganese you add, the more specific capacity drops, and this has meant it can’t deliver a high energy density.
“Our proprietary materials and patented production processes have enabled us to overcome this trade-off and increase manganese content to 80 per cent, placing us at the cutting edge of LMFP chemistry. With the third-party evaluation from the Energy team at GEIC, we’re proud to have developed a world-class cell material in the UK that can rival the performance of NCM but is more sustainable and more affordable, and will accelerate the transition to e-mobility.”
GEIC’s Applications Manager in Energy, Nicky Savjani, said: “The dedicated team in the GEIC Energy labs provides comprehensive support in battery materials development and evaluation, bridging academic innovations and industry appetite to push next-generation technologies towards commercialisation. Our GEIC Energy facility, combined with its dedicated team of battery engineers, is driving the push for decarbonising the transport sector and reinforcing the UK’s leadership in developing sustainable battery technologies.
The battery cells we produced using Integral Power’s LMFP materials exhibited competitive specific capacity during testing, highlighting their potential to enhance EV efficiency and reduce costs by increasing range.”
Integrals Power produced the high-performance LMFP cathode active materials at its new UK facility, alongside its proprietary LFP chemistry. The capability to manufacture materials such as these in the UK is critical to the development of a sustainable domestic battery industry and supporting not just the 2030 ban on sales of new combustion engine vehicles but also 2050’s net zero emissions targets.
Establishing manufacturing in the UK will also enhance supply chain security and transparency, and mitigate geopolitical issues such as import tariffs on EVs and their components. Integrals Power sources all its raw materials from European and North American suppliers which ensures a purer, higher performance LFP and LMFP cathode materials with greater energy density compared to the Chinese-manufactured cathode materials which currently account for around 90%1 of production worldwide.
