Cabot mulls new plant for carbon nanotubes, battery materials

Boston, Massachusetts – Cabot Corp. has unveiled plans to build a commercial-scale facility to produce battery-grade carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and conductive additive dispersions in the US.

Cabot plans to build the $181 million (€163 million) facility on a former automotive site in Wayne County, Michigan, and believes the plant to be the first industrial-sized unit to produce such materials in the US.

According to the Boston-based group, CNTs and battery materials are “critical” to the domestic lithium-ion battery supply chain for electric vehicles (EVs) and the electrical grid, helping to reduce reliance on imports.

The project has been selected for an award negotiation of up to $50 million by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) office of manufacturing and energy supply chains, covering nearly 30% of the total costs.