Battery electrolytes
The lithium-salt solutions (LiPF6 or LiFSI in carbonate solvents) that carry ions between electrodes; a 2.4 Mt market over 90% made in China.
Specialty chemicals · Energy-transition chemicals · No. 68
- Product family
- Feedstock: Minerals and salts
- 2.38 Mt electrolyte shipped in 2025 (China 2.21 Mt); LiPF6 259 kt; carbonate solvents about 2.30 Mt
- 3.5 t CO₂e per t
- HS 282690
The liquid that lets lithium flow inside a battery is mostly solvent, but its prized salt swung tenfold in price.
Chart: Illustration: Battery electrolytes
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Fluorspar becomes hydrofluoric acid, which with lithium and phosphorus makes the salt LiPF6; each tonne needs about 0.8 t of HF.
Three things to know
- Electrolyte is only about 11% lithium salt; the rest is carbonate solvents, of which about 2.30 Mt were shipped in 2025.
- Tinci alone supplied 343 kt of EV electrolyte in 2025, and the top three Chinese firms held 53% of EV supply.
- A battery needs about 1.3 kg of electrolyte per kWh, so demand is projected to reach 6.38 Mt by 2030.
The journey
- 1 FluorsparMined mineral turned into hydrofluoric acid
- 2 LiPF6 saltLithium fluoride reacted with phosphorus pentafluoride
- 3 SolventsCarbonates made from ethylene oxide and CO2
- 4 BlendingSalt, solvents and additives mixed bone-dry
- 5 Battery cellsFilled into EV and storage cells