I missed the lithium battery European 'snap-up' solid state battery

FraunhoferISC will provide its experience and technology in solid-state battery process development and battery production, and produce the first batch of solid-state batteries. 'The global lithium battery production and manufacturing are mainly controlled by China, Japan and South Korea. The European automotive industry with 3.4 million employees is shifting from internal combustion engines to electric drive systems. If it fails to introduce key lithium battery technologies to Europe, it will rely on power batteries from Asian manufacturers. 'The upcoming leap in solid-state battery technology provides an opportunity for this to 'turn around'. As the largest applied scientific research institution in Germany and Europe, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) is making a strategic international cooperation plan on solid-state batteries. And the Fraunhofer Institute of Silicate ISC at the University of Würzburg in Germany, which launched a solid-state battery project in January. FraunhoferISC will provide its experience and technology in solid-state battery process development and battery production, and produce the first batch of solid-state batteries. Solid-state batteries do not require flammable liquid electrolytes and can therefore provide significantly improved operational reliability. They also provide advantages in terms of size and weight, as a less complex safety housing is required. In addition, the use of metal anode materials (lithium) instead of graphite anodes currently commonly used in solid-state batteries can increase energy density and significantly shorten charging time. Although the various components (positive electrode, negative electrode, electrolyte) of solid-state batteries in the future have been well studied in the laboratory, the biggest challenge is to integrate them into a stable integrated system. It is very important to achieve high performance and long service life in as many charge and discharge cycles as possible in order to surpass today's traditional lithium battery systems. The cooperation between Empa and FraunhoferISC aims to eliminate the most important technical obstacles in the industrial production of solid-state batteries. Who are the parties involved? Empa’s cooperation project with FraunhoferISC is named IE4B ('Safe and Sustainable High-Performance Battery Interface Project'). It started on January 1, 2019. As part of the FraunhoferICON ('International Cooperation and Network') funding project, it will run three year. Through ICON, the Fraunhofer Association aims to expand the strategic cooperation between its institute and selected international institutions in various fields. For example, to date, the Cambridge University and Johns Hopkins University projects have been launched. Empa's main focus in the recently launched IE4B project is the development of solid electrolytes, the production and characterization of thin films with customized electronic properties, and the development of nanostructured anode materials. Fraunhofer ISC and its 'Fraunhofer Research and Development Center Electromobility Bavaria' are dedicated to the development of lithium conductive polymers and sol-gel material protective layers with specific battery characteristics. In addition, it also develops, manufactures and tests prototypes and small series batteries. Industrial companies from Germany and Switzerland have also participated in the IE4B project from the very beginning as part of the steering group that looked at the project from an industrial perspective: including representatives of the chemical industry (such as Heraeus), mechanical engineering companies (such as the Bühler Group) ), battery manufacturers such as Applied Materials (Varta) and technology companies such as ABB. How to achieve the goal? The purpose of the project is to develop a solid-state battery that can achieve stable charge and discharge cycles at room temperature and can be quickly charged at the same time. The project is divided into two phases: The first phase involves basic aspects and uses a battery model system manufactured using thin film methods at Empa and ISC. In this first stage, it is necessary to accurately understand and monitor the processes occurring at the interface between the positive electrode, solid electrolyte and negative electrode. In the second stage, these experiences and technologies will be used to manufacture functional solid-state batteries, which have FraunhoferISC's process engineering expertise and will be produced in small batches. 'Our common goal is not only to better understand the interface, but also to be able to translate this knowledge into the manufacturing process. The know-how of Fraunhofer and Empa complement each other,' Fraunhofer of Fraunhofer ISC Henning Lorrmann of the Bavarian Electric Vehicle Research and Development Center (FZEB) explained. The two-stage method has decisive advantages: as a model system in stage one, the structure of the thin-film battery is easier to analyze. This allows identification of the best matched electrode and electrolyte combination. Through pre-matched materials, the more complex three-dimensional structure of the larger battery cell in stage two is easier to realize. PiealoGröning is a member of Empa's board of directors and one of the project coordinators. He emphasized the strategic importance: 'The structure of lithium-ion solid-state batteries is very complex, which is a major challenge for materials science. Through this cooperation, we have combined outstanding expertise in materials science and process engineering, which is the successful advancement. The key to the development of solid-state batteries.'