[Company Visit] IM Receives Love Call for 'Complex Thin-Film' from China... Aiming for Mass Production by Year-End

Plan to Establish Annual Production Capacity of 8 Million ㎡
Collaboration with Chinese Company for Mass Production of Composite Copper Foil

I am's vacuum deposition (Sputter) equipment.

At the IM factory located in Mado-myeon, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, the production of 'composite copper foil' was in full swing. The thin and smooth brown copper-colored composite copper foil was continuously coming out from IM's unique vacuum deposition equipment.

IM, a smartphone camera module company, has chosen composite copper foil for secondary batteries as a new business opportunity. Composite copper foil is gaining attention as a new material to replace the existing electrolytic copper foil used in secondary battery anodes. This is because it reduces copper usage by more than 60% compared to conventional electrolytic copper foil and also enables weight reduction. In particular, it can block thermal runaway, which is the cause of secondary battery fires, greatly enhancing the safety of secondary batteries.

IM entered the composite copper foil business based on IM Advanced Materials, a smart film specialist company. IM Advanced Materials produces products such as touch sensor panels, transparent heating films, and transparent antennas using FTO continuous room-temperature deposition technology. Composite copper foil is a product coated with copper on both sides of a plastic PET film, aligning with the business of IM Advanced Materials. In Korea, IM and Taesung have entered the composite copper foil business.

The reason IM entered the composite copper foil new business is due to its high growth potential. According to China Jieshang Securities Research Institute, the adoption rate of composite copper foil for electric vehicle batteries is expected to exceed 20% by 2025. Additionally, the composite copper foil market size is projected to grow from 170 billion KRW in 2022 to 3.4 trillion KRW in 2025, representing an average annual growth rate of 271%.

To prepare for the composite copper foil new business, IM proactively introduced one production line. The Mado factory is equipped with vacuum deposition (Sputter) equipment, and the Ansan factory has electrolytic plating (Plating line) equipment installed.

The electrolytic plating equipment is the world's first 1350mm horizontal plating equipment. It can automatically plate both sides of 4.5μm (micrometer) PET with 1μm thickness. The products produced here have a thickness of 6.5μm and a width of 1.1m, reducing weight by about 75% and cost by about 50% compared to conventional copper foil.

I AM's electroplating (Plating line) equipment.

Chinese companies recognizing this technological capability are also sending love calls to IM. Although several companies in China are developing composite copper foil technology, no significant results have been achieved yet. In fact, the day before, IM signed a technology exchange agreement (MOU) related to composite copper foil with NuoDe, a Chinese copper foil specialist company. IM also established a cooperative relationship with Huachuang. These companies are all major copper foil suppliers directly invested in by global secondary battery companies CATL and BYD.

IM expects to start mass production of composite copper foil by the end of this year. Once prototype testing is completed, IM plans to discuss mass production quantities with Chinese companies. Currently, one line can produce about 2 million square meters annually. When IM fully enters mass production, it plans to expand its Vietnam factory by adding three more lines, thereby securing an annual production capacity of over 8 million square meters.

An IM official stated, "Interest in the necessity of composite copper foil is increasing recently due to electric vehicle fire incidents," and added, "Since Chinese companies that pioneered the composite copper foil market are paying attention to IM, we expect rapid mass production and successful results."