POSCO Silicon Solution’s Challenges for Korea’s First “Mass Production of Silicon Oxide Anode Material”

POSCO acquired ‘Tera Technos’
Incorporated as an affiliate after name change
POSCO Chemical combining with graphite anode materials
Huge improvement in performance of silicon-based anode materials

A battery materials subsidiary of the POSCO Group, Tera Technos, changes its name to POSCO Silicon Solution and promotes the business of silicon anode materials. POSCO Silicon Solution will make its first attempt in Korea to mass-produce silicon oxide (SiOx) anode materials by collaborating with POSCO Chemical, a subsidiary of the group.

POSCO has made battery material its future engine of growth and accelerated the development of anode material business. POSCO acquired Tera Technos by investing KRW 47.8 billion, a company specializing in silicon anode materials. Tera Technos was founded in 2017 with the transfer of nano-sized SiOx nanopowder manufacturing technology from Korea Institute of Energy Research.

SiOx has a higher energy density than conventional graphite and minimizes problems of volume expansion and lifetime reduction by nano-sized silicon particles. POSCO changed the name of the recently required Tera Technos to POSCO Silicon Solution and incorporated it as a subsidiary. POSCO plans to expand the anode materials business by relying on the mass production know-how of anode materials accumulated by POSCO Chemical.

POSCO Silicon Solution prepares to commercialize SiOx anode materials. They are testing samples of SiOx products with the national battery industry. They will cooperate with POSCO Chemical to advance the products and start mass production in earnest. A materials industry official said, “POSCO Chemical mass-produces graphite anode materials, and they are known to develop silicon-based anode materials with significantly improved performance by combining graphite-based anode materials with SiOx.”

POSCO is Korea’s largest steelmaker and is also expanding its battery materials business. The company will promote cathode and anode materials, which are key materials for batteries, focusing on POSCO Chemical. For cathode materials, they secured General Motors (GM) as a new customer, the largest automaker in the United States, and for anode materials, they are expanding to silicon anode materials in emphasizing graphite anode materials. A synergy can be sought between POSCO Silicon Solution and the business of silicon anode materials. The POSCO Group is preparing for another leap forward as a global specialist in materials for electric vehicle batteries.