Lighter, Stronger, Safer: Performance Polymers

Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. (APNA) is a leading manufacture of innovative high performance engineering plastics and provides customized solutions.

XYRON™ is renowned for its inherent flame resistance, low specific gravity, and exceptional stability, making it the standard for lightweight safety in high-voltage battery environments.

Application: Inter-Cell Spacers & Cell Holders

XYRON™'s dimensional stability and thin-wall molding capability enable more compact cell arrangements, increasing pack energy density. Its UL94 V-0 flame retardancy creates a critical fire barrier, isolating a thermal runaway event.
These materials are well-suited to fabrication of thin-walled components, helping to shrink product footprints and reduce weight. Their excellent creep resistance and (non-halogen) flame retardance also improve vehicle safety.

Application: Busbar Covers & High-Voltage Connector

High-voltage components require materials that provide reliable, long-term electrical insulation. XYRON™ offers an outstanding combination of properties: high tracking resistance (CTI PLC=2 for grade 644Z), long-term thermal stability (UL746B RTI Elec. 125°C), excellent hydrolysis resistance, and resistance to acids and alkalis.
This ensures the safe and reliable isolation of high-voltage busbars and connectors throughout the entire operational life of the vehicle.

LEONA™ delivers the strength of metal with the design freedom of plastic, engineered to replace die-cast metals in structural battery applications.

Application: Battery Module End Plates

These structural components are positioned at either end of a battery module and are responsible for applying the high compressive force needed to hold the stack of cells securely in place. This application demands extremely high strength and rigidity.
The LEONA™ SG series, such as grade SG105, is an ideal candidate, offering the necessary mechanical robustness, excellent moldability for complex geometries, and superior dimensional stability over the vehicle's lifetime.

Application: High-Voltage Busbars & Structural Insulators

For components that insulate high-current, high-voltage conductors, LEONA™ SN11B represents the premium solution.
Its best-in-class CTI of 600V, combined with high strength, long-term heat resistance, and V-0 flame retardancy, provides the highest level of electrical safety and reliability required in these critical applications.

Precision and Efficiency in Power Electronics

AKM’s coreless current sensor technology delivers ultra-fast response, high isolation, and low thermal generation needed to maximize the performance of next-generation battery power conversion systems.

Value for Your Application

EV On-Board Chargers (OBC) & Traction Inverters

Next-generation OBCs with SiC/GaN devices require ultra-fast current sensing. The Currentier™ CZ39 series, with its 100ns response time and low heat generation, helps support more compact, lighter, and more efficient OBC designs.
Our coreless current sensors deliver high-accuracy, fast-response detection without magnetic cores, enabling compact design and reliable motor control for traction inverters.

BESS & UPS Converters

Fast, precise current control is vital for grid stability. Low heat generation reduces cooling loads on storage containers, contributing to reduced costs and improved system reliability.

The Critical Balance of Performance and Safety

Explore how our separators and electrolyte achieve higher energy density, power, safety, and longevity. Asahi Kasei group is a company mastering both leading dry-process (Celgard®) and wet-process (HIPORE™) separator technologies. This allows us to act as a technology-agnostic partner, offering the optimal solution for any customer's specific cell design and application.

Wet-Process (HIPORE™)

Enabling Maximum Energy Density for Long-Range EVs

HIPORE™ wet-process battery separators offer several unique advantages in lithium-ion battery systems and are especially well matched for the high-capacity batteries required to power plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and full battery (BEV) vehicles.

Dry-Process (Celgard®)

The Standard for Power and Durability

Celgard® dry-process battery separators deliver an optimal combination of energy and power performance in a wide variety of EV/ESS battery cell designs. With unique pore and layer designs, high oxidative and dimensional stability, Celgard® separators can significantly improve cell manufacturability, enhance cell safety, and increase cycle life.

Breakthrough High Ionic Conductive Electrolyte

Traditionally, poor performance at low temperatures and degradation at high temperatures have been major challenges for Lithium-ion Batteries (LiB). Asahi Kasei has developed a revolutionary electrolyte based on acetonitrile (AcN), solving this issue with proprietary additive technology.

This technology not only prevents EV performance loss in cold weather but also enables the development of high-performance 12V lithium-ion auxiliary batteries to replace legacy lead-acid batteries.

Successful Proof of Concept

The performance improvements enabled by this electrolyte are transformative. In proof-of-concept tests conducted with a battery manufacturer using cylindrical cells, batteries with Asahi Kasei's AcN-based electrolyte demonstrated:

• Exceptional Low-Temperature Performance: High power output was maintained down to -40°C, a temperature at which conventional LIBs become largely inoperable.

• Superior High-Temperature Durability: The batteries exhibited double the cycle life at +60°C before reaching 80% state-of-health, compared to cells with conventional electrolytes.