BASF today inaugurated its Research and Development Laboratory and Application Technology Center for Battery Materials in Amagasaki, Japan.

The facility, located in the Amagasaki Research Incubation Center (ARIC), is BASF’s first combined battery materials research and development (R&D) and application technology operation in Asia Pacific.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by the mayor of Amagasaki City along with government officials, customers, researchers and BASF employees.

“The new Amagasaki Battery Materials Lab will enable us to extend our successful R&D network with research institutes and the battery manufacturing industry into Japan,” said Dr. Peter Schuhmacher, President Process Research and Chemical Engineering at BASF. “The addition of Amagasaki to this global network demonstrates our ongoing commitment to advancing the battery materials industry.”

The Amagasaki laboratory will focus on developing electrolytes and electrode materials for high-performance lithium ion batteries as part of BASF’s global R&D network, leveraging technology platforms from around the world. In addition, the Amagasaki laboratory will run development programs jointly with Japanese customers. This will allow BASF to serve customer’s needs in Japan more quickly.

Dr. Joerg-Christian Steck, Representative Director & President of BASF Japan, stated: “Japan is a leader in battery manufacturing and development. Amagasaki, in the Kansai area, is the ideal location for the new battery materials laboratory. Our R&D presence in Japan brings us closer to our customers, enabling us to better serve their needs.” The total investment for the new Amagasaki facility, which covers new offices and laboratories located at a 600 square meter site, is several million euros. The laboratory will combine organic and inorganic synthesis, analytics and electrochemical testing within one group. This facilitates understanding of how different materials such as electrodes and electrolytes interact with each other in battery applications, thus supporting materials optimization. In addition, the company will benefit from increased synergies with existing BASF teams that are researching chemistry for use in organic photovoltaic cells and electronic materials.

In July 2013 the Battery Materials Lab was selected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as a “Project Promoting Asian Site Location in Japan” as part of a program supporting global companies’ establishment of new, high-value-added business locations in the country.