LG Chem Ltd. is set to become the first South Korean company to mass-produce precursor-free cathode materials for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in line with the growing adoption of LFP batteries by electric vehicle makers.
At InterBattery2025 on Wednesday, it unveiled the cathode material without a precursor, branded as LG Precursor-Free. Its mass production will begin in the first half of this year, it said in a press release.
InterBattery2025 is South Korea’s largest secondary battery industry exhibition.
LG Precursor-Free is considered a next-generation technology for LFP batteries, which are increasingly in demand as EV makers seek to reduce production costs rather than relying solely on high-nickel batteries.
The cathode material is produced by sintering custom-designed metals directly, eliminating the need for the conventional precursor manufacturing process. A precursor is a key ingredient in cathode materials.
The precursor-free cathode material also enhances the performance of LFP batteries, ensuring more stable operation at low temperatures compared to conventional LFP batteries. LG Chem expects it to reduce industrial wastewater and carbon emissions as well.
LG Chem plans to integrate the precursor-free cathode material technology into future product lines to develop cost-competitive and eco-friendly products.
At Interbattery 2025 that runs until Friday, LG Chem also showcased ultrahigh-nickel cathodes with a nickel content exceeding 95%, high-voltage mid-nickel variants, high-density LFP and other types of LFP materials blended with nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM).
“We will aggressively pursue the future (battery materials) market with next-generation technologies, including LG Precursor-Free cathodes and advanced safety components,” said Shin Hak-cheol, chief executive of LG Chem, in the press release.
The company is ramping up LFP cathode material production. In 2023, it announced a plan to build an LFP cathode materials plant in Morocco in partnership with China’s Huayou Group unit Youshan.
Its products will be supplied to LG Energy Solution Ltd.’s Arizona-based plant, which the battery producer began constructing last year.
By Yeonhee Kim
yhkim@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.
