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- Lake Resources (LKE) has received positive results after Novonix (NVX) tested high-performance lithium-ion batteries using Lake’s high 99.97 per cent purity lithium carbonate
- Novonix compared commercial products to Lake’s lithium carbonate to demonstrate comparisons for Tier 1 battery makers
- The results showed Lake’s product had improved capacity retention and better electrochemical behaviour in coin cells, compared to the commercially available product from Tier 1 producers
- Novonix says they aim to continue the program to produce cells and batteries at a larger scale
- Lake Resources is up 18.2 per cent, trading at 45.5 cents, while Novonix is up a slight 0.34 per cent to $2.92
Clean lithium developer Lake Resources (LKE) has received positive results after Novonix (NVX) studied its NMC622-based lithium-ion battery test cells.
Novonix provides high precision battery testing equipment to tier-one battery makers, including Panasonic, Samsung, Bosch, Honda and Dyson.
The battery tester compared commercial products and samples of NMC622-hydroxide precursor from tier-one producers with samples of Lake’s 99.96 per cent purity lithium carbonate.
This enabled Novonix to conduct a real-world direct comparison of Lake’s product into NMC622 batteries and determine their suitability for the nickel cathode sector.
The cathode material was tested for electrochemical properties using coin half-cell testing. During the testing, powders were characterised using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction to understand the phase purity.
Lake’s product demonstrated improved capacity retention and better electrochemical behaviour in coin cells compared to the commercially available product from tier-one producers.
The companies will now begin larger-scale tests using batch-scale synthesis to assess repeatability, homogeneity and cell characterisation and validation in full lithium-ion wound pouch cells as part of Novonix’s pilot-scale cell line facilities in Canada.
Ultimately, this will allow Lake and its partners to make direct comparisons between Lake’s lithium product’s performance in familiar battery chemistries. However, Novonix says it anticipates this testing process will take a few months.
“The results from Novonix demonstrate the high quality of Lake’s high purity lithium in batteries and future results are anticipated to reinforce the initial results. This provides electric vehicle makers and battery makers confidence around Lake’s product quality, which is particularly important given the increasing demand for a high purity product,” said Lake Resources Managing Director Steve Promnitz.
Novonix says it aims to continue the program to produce cells and batteries at a larger scale.
Lake Resources is up 18.2 per cent, trading at 45.5 cents, while Novonix is up a slight 0.34 per cent to $2.92 at 10:32 am AEDT.
