BASF has declared that it has purchased Michigan-based Ovonic Battery, a leader in Nickel-Metal hydride (NiMH) battery technology and producer of cathode active materials (CAMs) for this type of battery. The company has a battery materials research plant in Michigan.
Currently, all the main manufacturers of NiMH batteries are working under the terms of license from Ovonic, which is the creator of NiMH technology.
BASF will handle Ovonic under its new global business unit called Battery Materials, which was introduced on 1 January 2012, in order to incorporate the present and future activities relating to battery materials, inside a single operating facility that is managed by its New Jersey-based Catalysts division.
Ralf Meixner, BASF Battery Materials business’s Senior VP stated that the company has established a leadership position in NiMH battery technology through Ovonic acquisition and long-term commercial contacts with the main battery manufacturers in the world. The proven research knowledge of Ovonic offers a strong balancing to the wide range of battery materials development works that are undergoing within BASF.
Besides the present ongoing works in lithium-ion cathode materials growth and electrolyte formulations, BASF is discovering the concepts of next-generation battery materials, which includes lithium-sulfur technologies.
BASF is reinforcing a wide range of battery materials technology in order to promote the future of electromobility, support the long-term goal of developing into a main supplier of functional components and materials for serving global manufacturers of battery and cell.
Source: http://www.basf.com/