Johnson Matthey to License 3M Technology for EV Batteries

3M Co. has agreed to license its nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode material technology to London-based Johnson Matthey plc to make lithium-ion batteries used in electrified vehicles.

Under the agreement, Johnson Matthey can use the technologies described in five 3M U.S. patents and their global equivalents. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

3M’s battery laboratory in St. Paul, Minn., collaborated with Prof. Jeff Dahn and his students at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to develop various NMC compositions, which the partners say can be used in applications ranging from micro-hybrid systems to full electric vehicles.

The mix of nickel, manganese and cobalt helps balance power, energy, thermal stability and cost, according to the partners. One of the chemistries is aimed at high-porosity applications.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded separate NMC patents to Argonne National Laboratory and 3M (based on research done by Dalhousie’s Dahn) for each in 2014. Both had applied for the patents in the early 2000s.