From:
World's 1st mass production lith-polymer battery
system
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World's first lithium-polymer battery production system
developed
12/02/1999 The Korea Herald Copyright (C) 1999; Source: World
Reporter
(TM) - Asia Intelligence Wire
By Choe Seung-chul Staff reporter Finecell Co., a
next-generation
battery developer, announced yesterday that it has
developed the
world's first mass production system for rechargeable
lithium-polymer
batteries. The venture company said that it has also
developed
"polymer electrolyte," a core component of the
state-of-the-art
battery, without any technical assistance from foreign
firms.
It marks the first time in the world's battery-manufacturing
industry
that a batch system was developed for mass production of the
most
advanced type of rechargeable battery, which was first developed
in
1994 by Bellcore, a U.S. battery maker.
Nicknamed "dream battery," the lithium-polymer battery can
be produced
in different types, even in thin-film form, promising to
emerge as the
No. 1 battery to replace the current lithium ion, or Li-ion,
battery.
"We plan to start mass production of the Li-polymer battery
in the
second half of next year," a Finecell official told The Korea
Herald.
The technical success by the Korean developer came as the
world's
leading battery developers are caught up in a fierce battle
to
commercialize the lithium-polymer battery, he said.
"Several leading battery firms, including Sony Electronics,
Panasonic
Industrial, Valence Technology and Lithium Technology, have
licensed
Bellcore's plastic lithium-ion technology, but they have
had
difficulty in mass-producing products," he said.
Thanks to the development, a Finecell spokesman said, many
Korean
battery makers will no longer have to pay huge amounts of money
to
foreign companies in return for the transfer of advanced
battery
technology.
He said that the development is expected to save the country
up to 400
billion won on a yearly basis.
Finecell, established by Dr. Jang Dong-hoon and his
colleagues at
Seoul National University's Lab of Electrochemistry in early
1998,
plans to capture 1.5 percent of the world's lithium battery market
for
mobile phones by 2001.
Finecell also plans to increase the share up to 15 percent
by 2005
through production expansion and technology transfers.
Currently, Japan virtually monopolizes the world's lithium
ion battery
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