Nano One Materials Corp (CVE:NNO) (OTCPINK:NNOMF) (FRA:LBMB) has strengthened its business relationship with materials and chemicals giant Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT) (OTCMKTS:JMPLF) (FRA:JMT2), signing a joint development deal to advance lithium-ion battery materials.
Under the agreement, the companies will co-develop next-generation products and processes for Johnson Matthey's (JM) eLNO group of nickel-rich advanced cathode materials using Nano One's patented One-Pot process.
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The work will lead to a detailed commercialization study for pre-pilot, pilot and scaled-up manufacturing.
"Johnson Matthey is a global leader in advanced lithium-ion cathode materials, and we are proud to be working with them in the pursuit of high performance, long life cycles, low-carbon footprint and environmentally sustainable solutions," said Nano One CEO Dan Blondal in a statement.
Christian Gunther, the chief executive of Battery Materials at Johnson Matthey, added: "We are encouraged by Nano One's innovations and believe its technology has the potential to offer significant advantages in terms of product performance, sustainability and manufacturing cost for our eLNO family of advanced cathode materials."
Nano's patented One-Pot process forms cathode material known as "coated single crystal" which can deliver increased durability and can be made directly from metal powders and lithium carbonate thus addressing cost, energy and sustainability issues.
Johnson Matthey is currently commercializing the eLNO family of materials and expects them to be ready to power the next generation of hybrid and battery electric vehicles in 2024.
The first manufacturing plant, currently under construction in Poland will initially supply 10,000 metric tons (MT) per year of eLNO, equivalent to around 100,000 electric vehicles.
The construction of the second plant is scheduled for later in 2021, and will initially supply 30,000MT of eLNO per year.
Nano One said the deal with JM was the "culmination of successful technical reviews and preliminary evaluations of both Nano One's high nickel cathode materials and IP conducted over the past year" and represented a "significant milestone in the business relationship between both companies".
Nano One Materials shares added around 9% in Canada to C$4.84 each.
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