(Yicai) Oct. 16 -- Shares of Chinese fine chemicals producer Boyuan Pharmaceutical & Chemical and leading supplier of lithium battery cathode materials Easpring Material Technology rose after the pair said they have teamed up to develop electrolytes for solid-state batteries and jointly promote their industrialization.

Boyuan [SHE: 301617] closed 16 percent higher at CNY83.58 (USD11.73) a share today, while Easpring [SHE: 300073] jumped 4.4 percent to CNY66.84. Shenzhen's Nasdaq-style ChiNext Board climbed 0.4 percent. 

Boyuan and Easpring will develop a new type of solid-state electrolyte that combines high ionic conductivity and interfacial stability, the two announced separately late yesterday. They will use Easpring's large-scale preparation tech for sulfide electrolytes and customer channels, as well as Boyuan's production technology and industrialization capabilities for high-purity lithium iodide products, they noted.

Easpring will buy high-purity lithium iodide and lithium sulfide products from Boyuan, establishing a mutually prioritized procurement and supply relationship, it said, adding that the two firms will jointly promote the developed solid-state battery materials to major international battery and car manufacturers. In addition, the pair will explore the feasibility of capital-level cooperation in the upstream key raw materials and electrolyte business for such batteries, it noted.

The tie-up will fully utilize Boyuan's leading position in China's inorganic iodide industry to achieve mass production of high-purity lithium iodide products, helping solid-state battery makers address critical raw material supply bottlenecks, according to the announcements. It will also leverage Easpring's tech expertise in developing lithium battery materials to co-build a raw material supply chain system for solid-state batteries that has a cost-competitive advantage, they added.

The use of solid electrodes and electrolytes in solid-state batteries greatly enhances the energy density of lithium batteries, enabling them to be smaller and safer, while having longer life cycles and broader applicability. However, their commercial production and application are only at the initial stage.

Editor: Martin Kadiev