[Featured Stock] Abaco Developing All-Solid-State Battery Manufacturing Equipment for Use in Electric Vehicles, Smartphones, and ESS

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] As the electric vehicle market is expected to grow, interest in all-solid-state batteries is also increasing day by day. With all-solid-state battery-related stocks gaining attention due to growth expectations, anticipation for Abaco also seems to be rising.

As of 1:19 PM on the 18th, Abaco was trading at 13,300 KRW, up 9.47% (1,150 KRW) compared to the previous trading day.

The automotive industry is fiercely competing to be the first to produce electric vehicles equipped with all-solid-state batteries. All-solid-state batteries can charge 80% of their total capacity in 5 minutes, and the driving range per charge is twice that of conventional lithium-ion batteries. Since the charging time is similar to the refueling time of internal combustion engine vehicles at gas stations and the driving range is not short, expectations for all-solid-state battery electric vehicles are high.

Toyota, together with the Japanese government, is forming a public-private consortium and plans to invest 17 trillion KRW to launch electric vehicles equipped with all-solid-state batteries by 2022.

Abaco is a manufacturer of display production equipment. It possesses manufacturing technology for LCD sputtering equipment applying the core vacuum deposition method. The company has built a diverse industrial portfolio by succeeding in commercializing flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and solar cell equipment fields. It is expanding its technological development achievements in the display sector into the renewable energy sector, specifically the solar cell industry. Abaco is continuously conducting research and development on CIGS thin-film solar cell sputtering equipment and related facilities. In 2014, it developed ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) heat treatment equipment, essential for manufacturing thin-film solar cells, as part of a national project.

Abaco is also striving to become a world-class equipment company in the roll-to-roll process equipment sector. In the third quarter of last year, it established an in-house converting machine (CM) division and plans to generate sales results starting this year by producing manufacturing facilities for advanced industrial core materials. Roll-to-roll equipment transports substrate materials with thin thickness and long flexibility, such as films or paper, using multiple driving units and components like rolls. It is equipment that continuously performs multiple processes such as lamination, patterning, and heat treatment. It can be integrated with various advanced industries' processes, including PCB, RFID, flexible displays, solar cells, and secondary batteries. By applying technology to coat and dry electrodes on copper foil and aluminum foil used as cathode and anode materials?core materials of secondary batteries?it can also be applied to the secondary battery manufacturing equipment market.

Research and development (R&D) for entering the secondary battery-related business, which is attracting attention as a future advanced industry, is also underway. Abaco is focusing its R&D on developing processes and equipment capable of high-speed deposition of solid electrolytes for solid secondary batteries. The applicability of sputtering equipment has been confirmed. Currently, the all-solid-state battery market is in the introductory stage, with multifaceted research ongoing on battery materials and structures. Since commercial equipment specifications are not yet finalized, Abaco is laying the groundwork for market entry through continuous exchanges with Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), a leading domestic R&D institution for all-solid-state batteries, and academia.

By diversifying its equipment, Abaco is developing equipment including semiconductor package manufacturing process equipment, MLCC-related equipment, thin-film PCB core equipment, all-solid-state battery and isotope battery businesses, and solid fuel cell business.

Abaco is developing core technologies for high-stability extreme environment all-solid-state batteries in collaboration with Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Hanyang University, Kyonggi University, and Gachon University. It has developed manufacturing facilities for sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries. It also developed processes and equipment that can deposit lithium anode protective layers without loss using sputtering equipment. Since all-solid-state batteries are superior in safety compared to liquid electrolyte batteries, their applications are expected to expand to automobiles and mobile phones. They can also be used in the global all-solid-state battery market and energy storage systems to address smart grid dissemination and power shortages in response to climate change.