Daikin Industries Ltd. on July 20th, 2012 announced its plans to start manufacturing fluorinated electrolyte solutions for lithium ion batteries.

Using fluorinated electrolytes, higher voltage and energy density can be achieved compared to conventional electrolytes, resulting in a marked increase in battery capacity. The fluorinated electrolyte also does not deteriorate easily, prolonging battery life.

Production was set to start in August in Daikin’s Alabama plant, with an annual capacity of 2,000 tons. Over the next 3 years, production capacity is planned to be increased to 10,000 tons, using new plants for mass production in China and Japan. Daikin predicts demand for lithium ion battery electrolytes in fiscal 2015 to be between 50,000 and 100,000 tons (from currently around 30,000 tons), and targets a global market share for that year of at least 10%.