The number of companies in the composite current collector market continues to increase, and companies with rapid mass production will have priority in enjoying market dividends

Composite current collector is a composite material in which copper/aluminum molecules are deposited on both sides of the raw material film such as PET as the base film through vacuum coating and other processes. Different from traditional metal current collectors, composite current collectors have a three-layer composite structure, namely “metal-polymer material-metal”, and the middle layer is mostly made of polymer materials such as PET, PP, and PI.

In recent years, with the rapid development of new energy vehicles and energy storage industries, lithium battery production has grown explosively. At the same time, the market has put forward more stringent requirements for the safety, energy density, and service life of lithium batteries. In order to improve the Battery safety, electrode materials, electrolytes, battery management systems, composite current collectors, etc. have become the focus of major companies. As a new type of battery current collector material, composite current collectors have the characteristics of high energy density, high safety, low cost, and high volume utilization, and are one of the best solutions for improving battery energy density.

According to the “2022-2027 China Composite Current Collector Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, In recent years, the number of R&D companies related to composite current collectors has been increasing, including ATL, Xiamen Haichen, Northern Huachuang, Zhejiang Chenyu, Jinmei New Materials, Wanshun New Materials, Baoming Technology, Jiayuan Technology, Nord Co., Ltd., etc. . At present, the composite current collector industry is still in the early stages of development, and no real mass-production companies have yet appeared in the industry. However, it is undeniable that companies that can quickly mass-produce will have priority in enjoying market dividends.

Composite foil helps to improve battery safety and energy density, and is currently the focus of the market. Among them, composite copper foil and composite aluminum foil are the main ones. In terms of production technology, composite copper foil mainly uses a two-step method, and composite aluminum foil mainly uses an evaporation process. Due to the complex production process, high equipment requirements, and high manufacturing costs, the industrialization process of composite copper/aluminum foil is slow. However, with the increase of layout companies and the advancement of related technologies, composite copper/aluminum foil is expected to usher in mass production in 2023.

In the composite current collector industry chain, the upstream of the industry chain is mainly base film and equipment suppliers, including Japan’s Toray, Teijin, the United States 3M, Dongcai Technology and other material suppliers, and the United States Applied Materials, Japan’s Fanuc, Zhenhua Technology, Equipment manufacturers such as Tengsheng Technology and Jiaocheng Ultrasound; the downstream of the industrial chain are mainly battery manufacturers. Currently, battery manufacturers including CATL, BYD, Haichen New Energy, etc. are actively laying out patents related to composite current collectors.

Industry analysts said that composite copper foil is the most potential composite current collector material and is expected to gradually replace electrolytic copper foil in the future. However, Currently, due to limitations in preparation technology and equipment levels, the manufacturing cost of composite copper foil is high and the commercialization process is slow. Composite current collectors are one of the best solutions to improve battery energy density and safety. With the active layout of relevant companies, the composite current collector market is expected to usher in a period of rapid development.