Materials integration into devices – From fundamentals to industry-relevant lithium ion battery cells
Miriam Keppeler, Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Limited driving ranges and high costs remain the main customer concerns regarding battery electric vehicles. Both objections are directly correlated with the active materials (AM) and the device characteristics of the battery system [1]. Intensive R&D activities since the market launch of lithium ion batteries in the early 1990s have resulted in a 3- to 4-fold increase in volumetric energy density as well as of battery cost reductions by more than 90 % [2]. Recent advancements in the field of energy density are mainly driven by both, innovative battery designs (such as cell-to-pack or cell-to-chassis technologies) and improved AMs [2]. Although a variety of novel, innovative and improved AMs are frequently presented in scientific literature, only very few of them have made their way into a real automotive battery application [3]. Several AMs are deemed unsuitable for industry due to (1) lack of scalability, (2) prohibitive costs or (3) safety concerns [4]. Further challenges arises from (4) different definitions of performance parameters across various technological levels (material, electrode, cell, system) [5], and (5) comparatively time-consuming innovation cycles from fundamentals to real battery concepts (up to a decade). To facilitate successful technology transfer from fundamental research to industry-relevant battery cells, this study examines the role of pilot-lines (TRL 5 – 6) that have become an indispensable bridge between academia (TRL 1 – 4) and industry (TRL 7 – 10) in recent years [4, 6].
References
[1] A. Kampker et al., World Electric Vehicle Journal 2023,14.4, 88.
[2] M. Fichtner, Batteries & Supercaps 2022, 5, e202100224, 1.
[3] S. T. Myung et al., ACS Energy Lett. 2017, 2(1), 196.
[4] M. Keppeler et al., Energy Technol. 2021, 9, 8, 2100132.
[5] C. Heubner et al., Adv. Energy Mater. 2021, 11, 2102647.
[6] J. T. Frith, et al., Nat Commun. 2023, 14, 420.