Ohara Inc. sees batteries playing a bigger role in its future.
The Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture-based optical glassmaker, whose products are used in precision optical devices such as digital cameras and telescopes, is eying a share of the fast-growing battery market with a material that it says can be used in both next-generation batteries and to enhance conventional batteries.
The company's efforts rest on a material called LICGC, or lithium-ion conducting glass-ceramics, which it wants to use in solid-state lithium-ion batteries. Solid-state batteries, which dispense with the liquid electrolyte blamed for causing batteries to heat and catch fire, are currently under development by companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and Dyson Ltd.