Zeon invests in Taiwanese firm SiAT to enhance Li-ion battery materials tech

Japanese chemical firm Zeon and Sino Applied Technology (SiAT), a Taiwanese manufacturer of advanced nanomaterials for next-generation batteries, have announced the signing of a partnership, where Zeon will lead a US$20 million USD Series C fundraising round in SiAT to support the expansion of its production capacity for single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) conductive paste, a critical nanomaterial for next-generation battery technologies.

Mass production of SWCNT powder presents significant challenges due to the high-temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, which requires precise control of catalysts and reaction conditions to achieve both high yield and high purity.

Zeon claims it is the first company globally to achieve mass production of SWCNTs in 2015. Utilising its proprietary Super Growth technology, Zeon produces ZEONANO, SWCNT product characterised by high aspect ratio, high purity, and large surface area, the media release said.

Another key challenge in SWCNT adoption is dispersion. SWCNTs tend to bundle and exhibit poor dispersibility in both aqueous and non-aqueous media, complicating their uniform integration into electrode slurries during battery manufacturing.

SiAT team, with over 20 years of expertise in battery nanomaterials, brings proprietary know-how to this partnership, enabling the even dispersion of SWCNTs into stable conductive paste product tailored for battery electrodes, the media release said.

Zeon is the lead investor in SiAT’s US$20 million Series C funding round, joined by other prominent Taiwanese venture partners.

With this funding, SiAT aims to scale its annual conductive paste production capacity to 25,000 tonnes by 2030. Concurrently, Zeon will fulfill its role as the primary supplier to SiAT.