When hearing about lithium-ion batteries, one tends to think about cell phones, laptops or the hot hybrid and electric vehicle market. What you don't think about is film separator.
But Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) does. Now an ExxonMobil affiliate has agreed with Toray Industries Inc. to establish a
global joint venture to develop, manufacture and sell lithium-ion battery separator film and introduce next-generation films to the market.
So what is lithium-ion battery separator film?
This
blog post on a GM-Volt site explains that the batteries work as electrons (electricity) flow between the anode and the cathode, which generates electricity. But that flow can't happen directly, or you can get an explosion -- such as this
laptop incident at a conference. The separator prevents that direct flow and is therefore crucial to the battery's safety.
The companies said detailed agreements are being prepared in anticipation of the 50-50 joint venture formation in January in Tokyo. Apparently, ExxonMobil Chemical has been in the separator films business for about 20 years, so the JV isn't all that shocking. It even
won an award last year for technological advances for the film.
What did surprise fossil fuel-hating environmentalists was Exxon's July announcement of a biofuels program. It plans to
spend $600 million -- perhaps billions more -- in an alliance with La Jolla, Calif.'s Synthetic Genomics Inc. to research and develop next-generation biofuels from photosynthetic algae. CEO Rex Tillerson had long indicated that alternative fuels were not for Exxon, so the $600 million
investment was surprising, even though it does only represent a little more than 1% of Exxon's 2008 net income. -
Baz Hiralal
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