A new patent license agreement concerning the use of Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) cathode materials in automotive lithium-ion batteries has been entered into by Johnson Matthey and 3M, according to recent reports.
The new patent license agreement sees 3M grant Johnson Matthey licenses to a number of different US patents (US6964828, US7078128, US8241791, US8685565, and US6660432) and their global equivalents.
The global business manager of 3M’s Electronics Materials Solutions Division, Christian Milker, commented on the deal: “The rapid growth of the electric vehicle market is driving the need for NMC-based cathode materials globally and especially in China. Johnson Matthey is well-positioned to supply lithium ion battery customers in this dynamic environment. We are pleased to conclude this agreement with Johnson Matthey, which will help to accelerate the adoption of NMC technology worldwide.”
As some background here: NMC cathode materials are potentially useful for the optimization of battery performance for a number of different purposes, including automotive ones. The technology has been advanced to a notable degree by research that 3M’s battery laboratory conducted in collaboration with Professor Jeff Dahn and his students at Dalhousie University.
A number of different NMC compositions were developed for various optimizations through this work, amongst which were: NMC 111 (energy + power), NMC 442 (energy + power), and NMC 111 (high power + high porosity).
Those looking for more information on the overall situation and/or the technology can find some in these articles:
Exclusive 5-Year Research Agreement Signed Between Tesla & Dahn Lab At Dalhousie
Jeff Dahn About To Start At Tesla…
How To Make Li-ion Batteries Live Longer, How They Die (In Depth)