Secondary battery equipment maker Mplus has expanded its all-solid-state battery equipment business into electrode processes and built a turnkey response system for the full production process. Mplus said on April 9 it has completed development of equipment to address key bottlenecks in electrode processes and succeeded in securing pilot orders.

The newly developed equipment is designed to resolve bottlenecks in mass production processes. Until now, WIP (isostatic pressing) equipment was regarded as the only verified process. Mplus is developing in-house surface-pressure press and roll press equipment that can replace it. Battery makers will be able to choose among the three types of equipment depending on process characteristics and production scale.

Mplus is also developing a dry coater as electrode-process equipment. The dry electrode process applies active materials directly to the electrode surface without solvents. It is regarded as a next-generation battery manufacturing technology because it offers higher energy efficiency and better environmental performance than existing wet processes. Mplus plans to complete a full lineup of electrode-process equipment with the dry coater.

Mplus already has technology to manufacture full pre-assembly process equipment across all form factors, including pouch-type, prismatic and all-solid-state batteries. With the addition of the electrode-process equipment lineup, it explained that it can now respond turnkey to the full production process for all-solid-state batteries. It is a structure that supports customers with a single supplier, from pilot line construction to conversion to mass production.

All-solid-state batteries are next-generation batteries that replace liquid electrolytes with solids to eliminate fire risks and increase energy density and charging speed. Demand is rising across industries including ESS, robots and electric vehicles, and the equipment market is also growing.

An Mplus official said, "We are working to secure an opportunity to pre-empt the all-solid-state battery equipment market based on proactive technology development and pilot order results." The official added, "We have completed supplying equipment to pilot lines of a number of global all-solid-state battery manufacturers, and we expect it will lead to large additional orders when they transition to mass production."