Taiyo Nippon Sanso invested in and signed a technological and business tie-up agreement with South 8 Technologies of a start-up company in California, the USA.

South 8 Technologies founded in 2015 is a manufacturer of electrolyte liquid for lithium battery.

The “LiGas” electrolyte mainly composes of the liquefied gas developed by Cyrus Rustomji who represents the venture is characteristic to enable activation in a wide temperature range from -80℃ to + 60℃ while the general electrolyte freezes in a circumstance at -60℃. Namely, the electrolyte liquid makes a secondary battery usable in cold districts or high places. This feature is expected to be extensively utilized in such fields as all-weather grid storages, electric vehicles or drones.

In this connection, what type of liquefied gas is used has not been disclosed because it affects the basis of the technology.

According to Taiyo Nippon Sanso, the electrolyte market is estimated to expand its scale up to a 400 billion yen level in 2024 thanks to the recent booming demand of lithium batteries.

Taiyo Nippon Sanso has been long planning to join the lithium battery market under the midterm business plan “Ortus Stage 2”, and the technological and business partnership with the electrolyte venture this time is quite in line with the corporate policy.

Based on the long-fostered production and supply technologies of high-purity gases, Taiyo Nippon Sanso intends to promote the development of gas technologies jointly with South 8 related to the production of liquid gas electrolyte.

In addition, making the most of group’s global network, Taiyo Nippon Sanso is planning to sell “LiGas” of South 8 and offers production technologies to the power storage device market of not only Japan and the USA but also Europe and Asia.