SBTL Advanced Materials Is Korea’s Leading Company in ‘Aluminum Pouch Film’ for Secondary Batteries

SBTL also produces "pouch film," which is a secondary battery cell packaging material. Courtesy of SBTL Advanced Materials

The secondary battery market for vehicles is expected to grow significantly as the electric vehicle (EV) market expands globally. Electric vehicle batteries use secondary batteries rather than primary batteries because they can be discharged and recharged multiple times. The need for advanced electric vehicle batteries is increasing thanks to demand from major international automakers.

Secondary batteries are viewed as the “second semiconductor” by the Korean government, which intends to strategically develop them as a key export product. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy made an important announcement in November of last year that it would move forward with a domestic investment of more than 50 trillion won ($37 billion) to capture 40 percent of the global market for secondary batteries by 2030.

SBTL Advanced Materials is an example of a Korean business that aspires to lead the world in developing secondary batteries’ core materials. It is the domestic manufacturer of aluminum pouch film for secondary batteries with the most experience. Pouch film is an important material that protects the battery’s positive and negative electrodes, separators, and electrolytes.

SBTL Advanced Materials won the grand prize in the secondary battery category at the “2023 Korea Luxury Brand Awards” for its technology. It is currently carrying out various joint development projects after being recognized for its technological prowess by various domestic and foreign secondary battery companies and electric vehicle (EV) related companies.

SBTL Advanced Materials presented “Pouch Film for Secondary Batteries” with improved safety against fire and explosion through the “InterBattery 2023” exhibition held in March, “All-Solid-State Battery Pouch Film” for next-generation secondary batteries, and “Durable Batteries.” There was also a “(Flexible) exclusive pouch film” released.

“The Client conducted a safety test between SBTL and its competitor’s products,” said Sang-wook Chun, CEO of SBTL. “I was able to confirm that,” he stated confidently.

“For all-solid-state batteries, also known as next-generation batteries, you must unconditionally choose a pouch as an exterior material,” CEO Cheon Sang-wook continued. “It can be used, but the prismatic battery cannot withstand the pressure and breaks.”

He also emphasized that “due to the next-generation all-solid-state exterior pouch and the flexible battery pouch, the company was recognized for their technological prowess, and thus was able to win the national project.”

Secondary battery pouch film is a high-end product with extremely high technical barriers required for secondary battery fire/explosion safety in Korea. It was designated as a core technology for materials, parts, and equipment by the government as an essential item for localization. Two Japanese companies currently monopolize the Korean market for secondary battery pouch films.

SBTL Advanced Materials’ pouch film business operates in the material and equipment industry, where both technology and quality are critical competitive factors, as well as continuous large-scale investment. It has demonstrated its productivity over a more than ten-year material development period, strict quality certification for secondary battery customers for 2–3 years, and production-only lines for 5 years. It has been promoting large-scale projects with an estimated investment of 100 billion won ($75 million) since 2009.

“Currently, various engineers who can master not only exterior materials but also raw materials, adhesives, films, and battery development, both before and after pouch production, have joined” the company, Cheon said.

“SBTL Advanced Materials has established an internal ecosystem that focuses on man, machine, material, and method based on 4M.“ We are working hard to create stable and reliable products that can cover all large battery exterior materials [pouches] from small to electric vehicles,” he said.

SBTL will attend the fair 'The Battery Show 2023" which will be held at Mess Stuttgart, Germany, on coming May 23–25, 2023. Courtesy of SBTL Advanced Materials