3M and L&F complete nickel, manganese and cobalt patent license agreement

3M and L&F complete nickel, manganese and cobalt patent license agreement

St. Paul, Minn. – January 5, 2012 – 3M and Korea-based L&F have entered into a patent license agreement to expand the use of nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC) in lithium ion batteries. Under the agreement, 3M grants a license to US6,660,432 and global equivalents, granting L&F access to a family of low cobalt NMC cathode material compositions for manufacture and sales to lithium ion battery makers.

The cathode compositions composed of nickel, manganese and cobalt offer an outstanding balance of power, energy, thermal stability and low cost. NMC cathode materials can be tailored through changes in composition and morphology to meet a wide range of demanding customer requirements from high-energy, handheld consumer electronics to high-power (hybrid) electric vehicles. For large format battery applications, the excellent thermal stability of NMC cathode compositions contributes to improved battery safety performance and enables a lower total battery system cost.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with 3M, and we are very excited about the customer solutions L&F can offer using the newly licensed NMC compositions,” said Mr. SuAn Choi, director, L&F Strategic Planning Division.

“The very low cobalt compositions described in this patent will enable battery customers to further reduce cost and minimize materials cost fluctuations that are typical with higher cobalt cathode compositions,” said Christian Milker, business manager, 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division. “This agreement with L&F will accelerate the market adaptation of the technology and enhance our ability to meet the rapidly growing needs of lithium ion battery manufacturers.”

For more information about 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division, its products and services visit www.3M.com/batterymaterials.

About 3M

3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $27 billion in sales, 3M employs about 80,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.

About L&F

A worldwide leading company in production of battery cathode active material, L&F Material has launched a wide variety of market leading products for lithium ion batteries. L&F Material’s core strength is our high level of process technology, and the balance between R&D and strategic long-term business planning, which drives our company growth every day. Visit www.landfm.co.kr for more information.

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