Electrode upscaling for next-generation batteries
To help advance European electromobility, the EU-funded IntelLiGent(opens in new window) project is developing sustainable, high-voltage, lithium-ion batteries with increased energy density, faster charging and a longer cycle life. Now, reaching a key milestone in efforts to upscale production of new battery cell tech, the project has successfully produced high-loading electrode rolls without toxic solvents. As reported in an article(opens in new window) published by IntelLiGent project coordinator SINTEF (Norway), battery electrode manufacturing is a major obstacle in efforts to upscale battery cell production, and it is critical for enabling European industry to become self-sufficient in battery supply. The electrode layers developed as part of IntelLiGent consist of lithium nickel manganese oxide (LNMO) cathodes and silicon-graphite anodes. SINTEF researchers working within the project have now managed to scale up the production of these electrode layers to rolls more than 100 metres long, with double-sided electrode coatings and with thickness accuracy up to one-thousandth of a millimetre. With sustainability in mind, both the anode and cathode were processed without the use of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, a hazardous solvent commonly used in the battery industry. Instead, the project team used aqueous binders to prepare the high-loading electrodes more sustainably. These electrode rolls will be cut into smaller sheets and assembled into multilayered pouch cells for electrochemical testing. Some cells will be tested individually and others used to assemble a bigger battery module. “This is a great achievement for our group,” remarks project lead Nils Peter Wagner, a senior research scientist at SINTEF. “It demonstrates one of the first European examples of high loading water processed LNMO cathode upscaling, and also one of the first upscaled electrode production in Norway. Hopefully, this can be a much needed spark for Norwegian battery research to move towards industrial cell manufacturing locally.”
It takes a village
Different IntelLiGent project partners contributed to this achievement. Danish company Topsoe supplied the LNMO material for the cathodes, while Norwegian manufacturer Vianode provided the silicon-graphite anode material. The polymer group at SINTEF assisted with novel binder solutions for both electrode slurries, and the Austrian Institute of Technology helped upscale these different electrode chemistries. Next, Millor Energy Solutions in Spain will prepare a battery module from the cells that are assembled from these electrodes, an important step in demonstrating the technology’s potential. “The upscaling of battery electrodes is not trivial, and especially water-based processing at high loadings is proven to be very challenging,” comments Wagner. “This is an important milestone for the project, as the quality of the electrode directly reflects on the quality of the battery cells that will be assembled in the coming months.” To further boost the development of higher performance batteries in Europe, the IntelLiGent (Innovative and Sustainable High Voltage Li-ion Cells for Next Generation (EV) Batteries) project has developed two digital tools to optimise battery design and streamline storage and analysis of battery research data. The first tool, PyBOP(opens in new window), is a modelling package providing methods for estimating and optimising battery model parameters. The second is the IntelLiGent Battery Knowledge Navigator(opens in new window), an advanced platform designed for battery data management and analysis. For more information, please see: IntelLiGent project website(opens in new window)
