• Je-Young Kim, CTO of LG Energy Solution, reveals the company’s technology leadership and its plans to commercialize dry coating technology by 2028.
• All-new dry coating technology will allow LG Energy Solution to achieve groundbreaking innovation by enhancing EV price competitiveness and customer value.

LG Energy Solution plans to commercialize its innovative battery manufacturing technology, known as dry coating technology, by 2028 to reinforce its global competitiveness.

Dry coating technology uses solid powder rather than slurry, and dry electrode batteries typically offer a higher energy density than wet electrode batteries. This innovative dry coating method also eliminates the slurry drying process to lower manufacturing costs and streamline production. According to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Matter, the dry coating technology could reduce battery production costs by up to 19%. Moreover, since it avoids the harmful solvents used in the drying process, dry coating is considered an eco-friendly technology.

While numerous companies are exploring ways to enhance their dry coating technology, LG Energy Solution is gaining competitive edge by leading the industry in this game-changing innovation.

“Among battery competitors, LG is the top,” Je-Young Kim, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of LG Energy Solution, told Bloomberg News in an exclusive interview. “We started working on this 10 years ago.”

LG Energy Solution is developing dry coating for both cathodes and anodes while working on adapting it for cathodes regardless of particle size. Applying this technology to cathodes with small particles is particularly challenging. In this context, Kim believes LG Energy Solution leads in dry electrode manufacturing through its technological advancements and is now well-positioned to mass produce dry coating in the near future and secure its technology leadership for years to come.

Building on this foundation, LG Energy Solution aims to mass produce this breakthrough innovation by 2028 while actively pursuing a series of “strategic patents” in the physical properties of dry electrodes. The company currently holds over 100 dry coating-related patents out of a total of 60,000 patents (as of June 2024). Not only will this be crucial for large-scale production, but this area has also been identified as having the most current and potential infringements.

LG Energy Solution intends to implement the dry-electrode process at the Ochang Energy Plant in Korea before introducing it to its global sites, and it plans to complete the construction of a pilot production line at the Ochang plant by the end of this year. As LG Energy Solution’s mother factory, the Ochang plant will handle everything from validating next-generation battery designs and process technologies to testing new products and confirming its mass production capabilities.