Cell Design and Materials: Li-Ion

Separator Key Trends + Notable Events January

Microporous receives $100M award from US DOE to accelerate commercialization of ultra-thin, coated wet-process separators

July

Entek awarded conditional US DOE load for US separator plant expansion Asahi and Toyota entered into an agreement for Asahi to supply separators from its North Carolina plant

February

Asahi Kasei breaks ground on HiPore wet-process separator plant in Ontario, Canada C$1.6B

March

24M Impervio separator recognized by Fast Companyʼs 2025 “World Changing Ideasˮ

Microporous Opens Li-ion separator line in Tennessee, establishing North American supply base

Source: company announcements and trade reports (links embedded)

Natrion announces LISIC-based composite ‘activeʼ separator

May

Quantumscape announces production of Cobra solid-state separator

SKIE supplies base separator films from Korea to LGES in North America, where LG performs ceramic coating highlighting supply-chain and regulatory complexity

Freudenberg announces nonwoven separators claiming improved life, safety, and electrolyte handing

August

April

September

Quantumscape and Corning announce ceramic separator co-development agreement Entek announces majority acquisition by I-squared Capital

October

Nuvola Technology announces SafeCoat separator technology

June

W-scope Plant construction commences at Nyíregyháza, Hungary plant, W-scopeʼs first European plant Senior subsidiary INV New Materials announces 1.3 billion m2 facility in Malaysia for base film and coated separator

November

Putailai announces a ~ ¥25 billion expansion in China, adding 20B m2 of base and 30B m2 of coated separator capacity (annual) once complete

December

LG, Toray LG completes acquisition of Torayʼs stake in their Hungary Battery Separator plant Chinaʼs new “anti-involutionˮ policy seeks to eliminate “race to bottomˮ, provide stable comp., affecting battery materials generally and separators

Extracted from the PDF; charts and images may read imperfectly.