Henkel and CALB agree joint battery innovation center in Changzhou, China

Henkel and CALB signed a Memorandum of Understanding and opened a joint Battery Innovation Center of roughly 400 square meters at CALB's pilot-scale production facility in Changzhou's Jintan District on September 29, 2026. The three-year cooperation, involving more than 30 specialists, will initially focus on adhesive technologies and application solutions for new energy vehicle batteries. The first joint material development project has already reached core development cycles of about three months.

Key facts

Market context

Structural adhesives, thermal interface materials and sealants are increasingly used in battery packs and cell assembly, where they bond components, manage heat and help protect cells from vibration and moisture. Demand for these materials is driven mainly by electric vehicle production, with battery makers and automakers seeking lighter, safer and faster-to-assemble pack designs. Chemical suppliers in this segment compete on adhesive performance, curing speed, thermal stability and their ability to qualify materials with cell makers during the development phase, which often determines who wins long-term supply contracts. Collaborations that place adhesive developers inside battery makers' pilot facilities can shorten those qualification cycles, which tends to favor suppliers already embedded in the production process. For buyers, such partnerships signal where new formulation work is concentrating, while for investors they highlight how specialty chemical firms are moving upstream into battery manufacturing supply chains.

Source: official release on henkel.com. Summary and context written by Market Krystal.