(Yicai) Sept. 19 -- Fengshan Group’s shares soared by their daily trading limit after the Chinese pesticides supplier said it has joined hands with a research team from Tsinghua University to develop solid-state electrolytes and sodium-ion battery electrolytes.

Fengshan [SHA: 603810] closed up 10 percent at CNY16.03 (USD2.25) per share in Shanghai today. The stock has gained by more than 77 percent since the end of last year.

Fengshan will provide CNY2 million (USD281,220) in research funding to the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Low-Carbon Technology at Tsinghua University for the development of polymer solid electrolyte products for solid-state batteries, electrolyte products for high-energy-density sodium batteries, and their industrial production technology, the firm said yesterday.

Fengshan, a fine chemicals maker that mainly develops and supplies pesticide products, has expanded into the battery electrolyte and new materials sectors in recent years.

The first phase of Fengshan’s 100,000-ton battery electrolyte project has been completed and put into operation. The Jiangsu province-based company has also initiated research and development efforts on semi-solid-state battery electrolytes, according to its first-half financial report.

Solid-state batteries promise greater safety, higher energy density, longer lifespans, and a smaller size than conventional power batteries, though large-scale mass production has yet to be realized.

Even though sodium-ion batteries have lower energy density than lithium batteries, they are cheaper to produce and safer, making them suitable for energy storage uses where energy density requirements are modest.

Editor: Futura Costaglione