Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Hanwha Total Petrochemical has completed the expansion of a facility for a high value-added material for separators, which are critical components in liquid electrolyte batteries, as it seeks to move its business focus from base chemicals to synthetic resin products.

A separator is a permeable membrane that consists of a polymeric membrane forming a microporous layer. It must be chemically and electrochemically stable and mechanically strong enough to withstand the high tension during battery construction.

Hanwha Total said its plant in Daesan is now capable of producing up to 140,000 tons per year of very high molecular weight polyethylene, which is a high value-added synthetic resin product that has been spotlighted as a secondary battery separator. The company is a joint venture between Hanwha General Chemicals and Total S.A., a French integrated oil and gas company.

Hanwha Total said it has partially supplemented its existing high-density polyethylene production plant to establish a system that can flexibly produce various products depending on market conditions. The company has acquired proprietary technology to produce separator materials by applying its own catalyst and production process.