“The processes used and the choice of materials for cell production influence and determine cell design and cell performance. In the case of GIGAGREEN, the objective is aimed at new and sustainable electrode manufacturing processes.”
Interview with Luca Schneider, Project Manager for Battery Cell development at Leclanché
What does the Design to manufacturing concept mean and how it is applied in GIGAGREEN?
Design can refer to many aspects of a battery. For example, the processes used and the choice of materials for cell production will influence and determine cell design and cell performance.
In the case of our EU project GIGAGREEN, the objective is aimed at new and sustainable electrode manufacturing processes. In this context, we are focused on the electrode design. Design to manufacturing means a way of thinking, acting, and assessing the manufacturing aspects from a design point of view. Therefore, our area of responsibility is to connect electrode processing with the up-scaling and include sustainability analyses and recycling aspects in the project.
What is the main state-of-the-art technology it proposes?
From a material point of view, in this industry it is common to reduce the cobalt content for cathode materials. Therefore, the trend is going to materials with high-nickel content and materials like lithium iron phosphate. For the processing, the usage of water-based electrode slurries instead of organic solvent-based can reduce the environmental impact and the costs of the cell. In particular, it is common to use organic solvents for the cathode manufacturing. Leclanché has over 13 years of experience in aqueous electrode processing, that we can bring in into the project. The approach in the GIGAGREEN project combines a low-cobalt or cobalt-free cathode material and water-based binder processes for electrode manufacturing. The project also aims to develop processes that could enable dry (solvent-free) electrode manufacture. The choice of high-capacity active cathode materials with an extended voltage window and in combination with the high-capacity anode material leads to an increased energy density.
