[Editor's Note] As the demand for secondary batteries continues to increase due to the growth of the electric vehicle industry, the demand for new secondary battery cathode materials has been rapidly increasing recently to improve the energy density of secondary batteries. The secondary battery cathode material market is expected to open up to over 9 trillion won in the future, and many companies at home and abroad are spurring the development of secondary battery cathode materials. In the midst of this, a company that has recently been recognized by domestic and foreign research institutes for the performance and stability of its secondary battery cathode materials is becoming a hot topic. It is none other than Grabsil (CEO Heo Hoon). Grabsil is a company specializing in nanomaterials such as silicon, graphene, and CNT, and is led by CEO Heo Hoon, who was formerly a researcher at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology. Accordingly, our magazine met with Heo Hoon, CEO of Grabsil, and heard about secondary battery cathode material technology.


■ Please introduce Grabsil.

Grabsil is a startup that researches and develops, manufactures/produces/sells cathode active materials, one of the four major materials, especially silicon cathode active materials, a next-generation material, for the development of secondary batteries, one of the most important industries in our country in the future.

Grabsil has been recognized domestically and internationally for its excellent research and development capabilities and the excellence of its silicon cathode active materials by winning the 4th STARTUP NEXTCON Encouragement Award, the 2021 4IR Award Green New Deal Grand Prize, and the 2021 Korea Patent Exhibition Commissioner's Award.

Additionally, the product's stability and excellence were evaluated through tests by domestic research institutes and overseas secondary battery manufacturers.

In the future, Grabsil will grow into a specialized secondary battery cathode material production company by developing energy nano-materials such as CNTs in addition to achieving the goal of commercializing the best silicon cathode active material for the development of Korea's secondary battery industry.

■ I understand that you recently developed a secondary battery cathode material. I would like to hear about Grabsil’s secondary battery cathode material and its competitiveness.

Grabsil is developing and producing silicon/carbon composite (Si/C), a next-generation cathode material among silicon cathode active materials.

We have completed product development for initial capacities of 1,300 mAh/g and 1,500 mAh/g, and are currently testing cycle stability, etc. for products with 1,800 mAh/g and 2,000 mAh/g.

Existing silicone-basedThe problem of silicon expansion, which is a problem of the material and a condition for passing the practical use stage, was solved by Grabsil's own technology.

Through this material control technology, Grabsil's cathode active material products can maintain high initial charge/discharge capacity and stable long-term charge/discharge cycles compared to other competitive products, and possess world-class silicon cathode active material technology with excellent electrical conductivity.

In addition, since it is a product that has been independently researched and developed, it is easy to implement simplification and automation of the production process when designing the mass production process, and it can also secure price competitiveness in the future market.

■ I would like to hear your opinion on the reason for starting development of secondary battery cathode materials and the outlook for the secondary battery cathode materials market in the future.

The secondary battery industry is a key industry that not only our country but also the entire world is paying attention to and investing in.

I believe that the silicon cathode material, Grabsil's main product, is an industry with a high market growth potential for the next 10 years or more.

So far, the world has invested hundreds of trillions of won to grow the secondary battery industry and related material industry.

Among the four major materials for secondary batteries, cathode materials have been the focus so far, but it is believed that proper performance improvement of secondary batteries cannot be achieved through the development of cathode materials alone, and in particular, there are limits to performance improvement in terms of capacity.

Due to issues related to the capacity and charging speed of secondary batteries, the market is now increasingly emphasizing the need for the development of silicon anode materials, so the anode material industry, along with the cathode material industry, is an industry with limitless growth potential.

In the growing cathode materials industry, silicon cathode active materials will be a particularly important material.
/> Currently, silicon anode active materials have pioneered the market by proving that silicon oxide (SiOx) can be used as an anode material, and in the future, silicon carbon composites (Si/C) will lead the activation of the secondary battery anode material market.

This is also reflected in the development roadmap of most cathode active materials, and for the development of secondary batteries, we believe that Si/C is a suitable material partner due to its special features of high initial capacity, fast electrical conductivity, and reduced production cost compared to SiOx.

■ I understand that you worked at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology. I am curious about what field you studied and what kind of research you have conducted.

During my tenure as a researcher, I have conducted extensive research on commercialization of materials. In particular, I have conducted extensive research on silicon-based cathode active materials, which are the core of cathode active materials, and nanocarbons such as graphene and carbon nanotubes for a long period of time.

In particular, I was able to start a business through my extensive experience in commercializing technology and supporting businesses, which is the founding purpose of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology.

■ I understand that it won the 4th STARTUP NEXTCON Encouragement Award, the 2021 4IR Award Green New Deal Grand Prize, and the 2021 Korea Patent Exhibition Commissioner's Award. It seems that Grabsil's technology has been officially recognized. Please introduce Grabsil's technology and competitiveness.

The technology that Grabsil possesses is, above all, a technology for developing and mass producing silicon anode active materials that can be used as secondary battery anode materials by controlling silicon expansion to a minimum, while at the same time improving the performance of secondary batteries.

Currently, many companies are proposing solutions to control silicon expansion, but there are still issues to be resolved, such as short charge/discharge cycles, rising production costs, and high manufacturing raw material costs.

Grabsil's technological capabilities have enabled it to control silicon expansion to the maximum extent possible to maintain a longer charge/discharge cycle, and it has also enabled it to simplify and automate the production process, which can reduce production costs that may otherwise be a problem in mass production, allowing it to be offered at a more competitive price.

This technological prowess is protected by a number of patents as intellectual property rights, and one of Grabsil's key competitive advantages is that it has an operational strategy to develop better products through a strengthened patent roadmap in the future.

Additionally, compared to most competitors' development research teams, we have highly skilled researchers who have been conducting research and development on silicon anode active materials for over 15 years.

Our Grabsil team, comprised of researchers with specialized knowledge and long-standing know-how and experience in the development of silicon anode active materials, can develop even more advanced products than before, which is another competitive advantage of ours.

■ I want to hear about your future plans

We plan to mass-produce products more quickly through business partners that can work with Grabsil in the future.

In the future, the silicon market will be worth more than 9 trillion wonIn an era where the extreme market is opening up, Grabsil is growing into a company that can play a pivotal role in the global market by taking the lead in technological and price competitiveness.

In addition to silicon active materials, we are also accelerating the development of other key cathode materials such as SWCNT, with the vision of growing into a true secondary battery cathode material specialist.

■ Lastly, please say a word to e4ds news readers.

The secondary battery industry is one of the industries that countries around the world are trying to foster with great effort. Korea already has the best technology in the secondary battery industry.

In the meantime, Korea has not been able to easily invest in the materials industry. This may be because the materials industry itself has many shortcomings, such as large facility investments and long development and verification periods, and thus requires a longer period of time to achieve business success compared to other industries.

However, since the secondary battery industry is a key future food industry along with semiconductors, if the related materials industry also receives attention and makes active investments, it will be able to play a leading role in the future growth of the national industry.

e4ds news has a lot of information, good ideas, and promotional strategies about many science and technology and industrial technologies.

We hope that you will show a lot of interest in domestic material-related small and medium-sized enterprises and startups so that the secondary battery industry, and especially our secondary battery material industry, can grow faster than any other country.

thank you