Future in Battery Production: An Extensive Benchmarking of Novel Production Technologies as Guidance for Decision Making in Engineering

Abstract

Due to the rising interest in electric vehicles, the demand for more efficient battery cells is increasing rapidly. To support this trend, battery cells must become much cheaper and "greener." Energy consumption during production is a major driver of cost and CO 2 emissions. The drying production step is one of the major energy consumers and cost drivers. The technological approach of "dry coating" allows the energy-intensive drying step to be eliminated for significant energy and cost savings. However, there are numerous emerging dry coating technologies that differ significantly in physics, chemistry, and readiness levels. Moreover, typical methodological procedures for technology selection remain less applicable to the early stages of technological development. Both issues raise the questions, "What is the most promising dry coating technology?" and "How do we identify it?" To answer these questions, a comprehensive, systematic technology benchmark was conducted. Following a four-step analytical approach, based on the nominal group technique, qualitative content analysis, and multicriteria decision analysis, different dry coating technologies were identified, analyzed, and cross-compared. This was performed qualitatively and quantitatively. We also forecast which factor will impact the application of the most promising technologies for CO 2 emission rate reductions and cost savings in 2030. In summary, four different technologies were identified with a high chance of technological breakthrough within the next 3-5 years. By applying these technologies, 4.76 million tons of CO 2 could be saved per year by 2030.

Dry Electrode Manufacturing in a Calender: The Role of Powder Premixing for Electrode Quality and Electrochemical Performance

“…Challenges yet to overcome by the process are the limited flow properties of the battery materials often leading to inferior electrode quality in terms of electrochemical performance as well as electrode thickness and density homogeneity. 15 Despite a simple process design, the processability of a dry powder mixture depends on a multitude of material and process parameters that are intercorrelated, while material properties and composition must be optimized for their electrochemical performance rather than for processability. In this work, the manufacturing of porous LIB cathodes with LiNi 0,6 Mn 0,2 Co 0,2 O 2 (NMC622) as active material (AM) using a two-roll calendering process is investigated.…”

“…For the manufacturing of porous electrodes in a dry process, two variants show promising results and receive attention from the industry to be adapted on a large scale: electrostatic spray coating and roll-to-roll calendering. − While the electrostatic spray coating is versatile in terms of electrode characteristics, such as thickness, porosity, and composition, and can produce good quality electrodes, it is challenging to scale up and necessitates rigorous safety measures due to the vaporization of the electrode components, which are most often hazardous and highly explosive when strongly aerated. , The roll-to-roll calendering process has the advantage of a simple process design where the battery powders are mixed and consequently compressed to an electrode sheet between two rolls followed by a second calendering step where the lamination to the current collector takes place . Low equipment, plant space, and energy requirements are needed, and upscaling by numbering up is easy.…”

“…Low equipment, plant space, and energy requirements are needed, and upscaling by numbering up is easy. Challenges yet to overcome by the process are the limited flow properties of the battery materials often leading to inferior electrode quality in terms of electrochemical performance as well as electrode thickness and density homogeneity . Despite a simple process design, the processability of a dry powder mixture depends on a multitude of material and process parameters that are intercorrelated, while material properties and composition must be optimized for their electrochemical performance rather than for processability.…”

Lithium‐ion battery cell production in Europe: Scenarios for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions until 2030

“…It could be estimated that by applying these four specific technological innovations, a significant reduction in the energy consumption in LIB cell production may be possible in the future. Notably, the selection and evaluations of these technologies were derived from previous studies conducted on LIB cell production (Degen & Krätzig, 2022a).…”

Life Cycle Assessment of the Battery Cell Production: Using a Modular Material and Energy Flow Model to Assess Product and Process Innovations

“…At the same time upcoming innovations in the production of battery cells, e.g., electrode dry coating and the battery cell materials, e.g., nickel-rich active materials, are projected to have a large impact on the environmental impacts of the battery cells. [13,14] Hence, there is a need for an engineering-oriented approach to model the battery production system and to assess efficiently different potential innovations in the production process and cell design. This need has been partially addressed by some approaches developed over the past years, which focus on increasing the transparency within the LCI models for battery cells while expanding their applicability to a broad range of cell chemistries.…”