Mr. Robert Morris reports

NANO ONE LAUNCHES GROUNDBREAKING M2CAM TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE COST, WASTE AND CARBON FOOTPRINT IN LITHIUM-ION BATTERY SUPPLY CHAIN

Nano One Materials Corp. has launched its M2CAM (metal to cathode active material) initiative. Nano One's patented one-pot process has been successfully adapted for M2CAM, enabling cathode materials to be made directly from metal using nickel, manganese and cobalt metal powder feedstocks rather than metal sulphates or other salts.

Nano One is actively engaged in a number of discussions with large integrated miners to reduce environmental footprints and maximize upstream value in the global battery supply chain. Nano One's other collaborators include automotive OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) with similar motivations to meet environmental targets by reducing waste, carbon emissions, logistics and costs.

Patents are pending for M2CAM and preliminary test results are showing battery capacity up to 5 per cent higher than cathode materials currently made from metal salts.

This innovation addresses a growing ESG (environmental social governance) imperative to reduce cost, waste, energy and carbon footprint in the lithium-ion battery supply chain. Nano One's innovative one-pot process:

• Eliminates the need for costly and energy-intensive conversion of nickel, cobalt and manganese to sulphate, and lithium carbonate to hydroxide;
• Eliminates the shipment of large quantities of water and sulphur, lowering energy, emissions and costs of shipping by four to five times;
• Eliminates the costly extra step of making precursor cathode active material (PCAM);
• Eliminates the economic and environmental cost of handling a waste stream of sulphur and water that is four to five times larger than the cathode product stream, combines feedstock conversion, precursor formation, lithiation and coating steps using carbon neutral chemistry in a patented one-pot process;
• Forms durable single-crystal cathode powders and protective coatings simultaneously.

Robert Morris, Nano One's battery metals strategy adviser and former executive vice-president of sales and marketing in base metals for Vale, remarked: "Miners are compelled to reduce their carbon footprint, both from internal corporate ESG mandates and in meeting customer requirements, none moreso than those in the battery supply chain. OEMs want clean nickel and that refers to the mining, refining and logistics of getting the product to the place where it will be consumed. Metal producers should have an ESG and premium advantage over sulphate and other non-metal producers, if their nickel can be used directly in the production of cathode materials."

Miners and refiners use a costly and energy-intensive crystallization process to convert nickel, for example, into nickel sulphate, which weighs four to five times more, before shipping to manufacturers. The metal sulphates are then mixed in a caustic process to form an intermediate precursor while generating four to five times waste in sulphate and water. Lithium hydroxide (LiOH) is then added to the precursor in a prolonged thermal process to form the cathode powders before the final protective coatings can be applied. This supply chain is long and complicated with energy, carbon emissions, environmental waste, complexity, cost, logistics, shipping and margins added at each stage.

Nano One's patented one-pot process forms durable single-crystal cathode powders and protective coatings simultaneously and M2CAM enables these materials to be made directly from metal powders. Metal powders are one-fifth of the weight of metal sulphates, avoiding the added costs, energy and environmental impact of converting to sulphate and shipping and handling of waste. The one-pot process is an aqueous process, using carbon-neutral chemistry, that operates at room temperature and atmospheric pressures, and it combines feedstock conversion, precursor formation, lithiation and coating steps into one reaction. This creates added value for metals and aligns Nano One with the environmental, sustainability and cost objectives of automotive companies, miners, investment communities, and governmental infrastructure initiatives.

About Nano One Materials Corp.

Nano One Materials has developed patented technology for the low-cost production of high performance lithium ion battery cathode materials used in electric vehicles, energy storage and consumer electronics. The processing technology enables lower cost feedstocks, simplifies production and advances performance for a wide range of cathode materials. Nano One has built a demonstration pilot plant and is partnered with global leaders in the lithium ion battery supply chain to advance its lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) and lithium nickel manganese oxide (LNM) cathode technologies for large growth opportunities in e-mobility and renewable energy storage applications.

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