Battrion Establishes New Fast-Charging LiB Electrode Production Facility
Battrion has built a new facility for the production of its fast-charging lithium-ion battery electrodes for automotive and other high-performance applications.
Battrion AG is a developer and supplier of fabrication technologies that help to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). Recently, the Swiss company announced the build of a 20MWh/year small-scale production facility in Dübendorf, Zurich. This facility has already started to produce fast-charging electrodes for electric vehicle (EV) and high-performance applications.
Image used courtesy of Battrion
Aligned Graphite Technology
The distance an electric car can travel with a single charge is limited by the battery's capacity. The battery's capacity depends on how fast it can be recharged. The low speed of charging has been one of the major obstacles to the widespread adoption of electric cars. The need for faster charging is driving the development of new low-temperature chemical processes that use less electricity, new batteries with higher energy density, and new materials for batteries with improved conductivity and lower resistance.
Battrion uses a fabrication technology known as Aligned Graphite Technology to alter the microstructure of LiB negative electrodes. The technology works by vertically orientating flake graphite particles in the negative electrode to reduce lithium-ion transport distances. This can allow for shorter charging times, more sustainable production, a reduction in raw material costs, and lower cell resistance. Lower cell resistance can provide more battery power and less heat generation.
In a news release from earlier this year, the Co-Founder and CTO of Battrion, Dr. Martin Ebner, said, “The successful production of electrodes in this manufacturing facility is key as it proves the process for manufacturing Aligned Graphite electrodes at a relevant scale, de-risking the widespread use of the technology. This is great news for our automotive customers. With this technology, we can reduce the charging time of batteries dramatically. For EVs this means, charging 400km of fresh range in 15 minutes instead of 25 minutes for the best vehicles today. This is possible because full charging power can be applied three times longer before it is reduced.”
More Sustainable Production
Concerning sustainability and cost reduction, Battrion’s Aligned Graphite Technology uses less processed and environmentally friendly flake graphite. Using this graphite material means that a wasteful process step that is known as “graphite spheronization”, can be skipped during production.
Battrion offers Aligned Graphite and regular graphite electrodes for LiBs. Image used courtesy of Battrion
In the same news release, the Co-Founder and COO of Battrion, Dr. Max Kory, commented, “Operating the facility, we are demonstrating how this technology can be used to reduce the CO2 footprint of lithium-ion batteries. We follow a clear path to enable the production of the negative electrodes for lithium-ion batteries at strongly reduced CO2 emissions. Using less processed flake graphite, a CO2 reduction of around 10’000t per GWh battery capacity can be achieved.”
In addition to the establishment of its new facility for fast-charging LiB electrode production, Battrion plans to work with leading cell manufacturers and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to improve the GWh (Gigawatt hours) capability for its electrode technology.
