In addition, the company has signed an agreement with OCI, with whom Nexeon has secured a binding long-term supply of monosilane - a critical raw material required to produce its Generation 2 silicon anode materials.
OCI is a global supplier and developer of chemicals and advanced materials for the semiconductor, automotive and battery material markets.
As a result of this contract, OCI will supply monosilane to Nexeon from 2025. Nexeon's first commercial facility will be established on land adjacent to OCI’s Gunsan plant, securing Nexeon’s ability to deliver tens of thousands of tonnes of silicon anode material annually. Supply of commercial material begins in early 2025, initially fulfilling the recently announced binding supply agreement with Panasonic.
This infrastructure provides an advantage in cost competitiveness as it uses a by-product gas produced during the manufacturing of polysilicon for semiconductors at the Gunsan plant. It also enables both companies to take advantage of avoiding complex and expensive logistics operations and equipment associated with transporting gas chemicals.
OCI will deliver the raw material through a dedicated and direct pipeline between both facilities (otherwise referred to as a ‘fence-line’ infrastructure) on the Gunsan site, and as Nexeon looks to expand production capacity, OCI has the capability to increase supply lines in parallel to enable production of silicon anode material in the tens of thousands of tonnes per year.
“The collaboration with OCI is a significant milestone that will help rapidly scale our operations. Between securing a strong supply chain of raw material and our supply agreement with Panasonic, we are one step closer to delivering the best performing and cost-efficient silicon anode materials – a vital enabler of more energy dense batteries” Scott Brown, CEO of Nexeon.
Nexeon’s advanced silicon-based anode material has the potential to catapult the energy density of lithium-ion cells by up to 50%. The Generation 2 ‘drop-in’ material, allows cell manufacturers to use a much higher percentage of silicon in lithium-ion cell anodes when compared with first generation materials such as silicon-oxide, without requiring critical changes to the cell manufacturing process or significant capital investment.
