Further offers for the topic Battery technology

Poster-No.

P2-080

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The race for the perfect cell design regarding high energy and power applications is very vital and in recent years none of the three main cell types (cylindrical, prismatic hardcase and pouch) is dominating the market. A general trend of increased cell dimensions, hence capacity per cell can be observed and predominantly an improved engineering of cells led to massive leaps regarding specific and volumetric energy density. In combination with the material level (e.g., the use of next generation lithium-ion battery (LIB) materials, development of solid-state battery materials) energy and power-densities can and will be further improved in the coming years. [1]

Consequently, the Fraunhofer research institution FFB focusses on the development of new cell design concepts as well as the respective production technologies for the complete value chain from incoming materials to the finished battery cell. For the Fraunhofer FFB it is crucial to react to upcoming trends in research and development regarding the battery cell (e.g., cell-to-pack, cell-to-chassis). This requires a high degree of flexibility in cell design and in battery cell production capabilities for the scaling, testing and validation of innovations for multiple industrial application fields. Hence, these demands had to be considered during the planning phase of the two production plants.

The Fraunhofer FFB focusses on flexibility in the dimensions of all three cell types and the position of tabs in cell designs. This allows the implementation of latest trends from research and industry. Furthermore, synergies between different cell formats can be used for interlinking the production lines. Pouch and prismatic hardcase cells can be manufactured with the same electrode stack. Thereby production can be adjusted more quickly, cell format changes can be implemented faster, and production and quality data could be compared better for both cell formats. The consideration of the flexibility in the design of the cell inside and the cell chemistry enables multiple opportunities, e.g., the development of recycling-friendly cells or the application of drop-in technologies like sodium-ion batteries and the implementation of solid-state battery strategies. Finally, the upscaling of promising new technologies and innovations together with the Fraunhofer FFB can be achieved on different production levels from pilot plants to high throughput industrial production. On this poster, the capabilities of the Fraunhofer FFB as a research institute on industrial level will be presented.

[1] Neef, C. et al.; Development perspectives for lithium-ion battery cell formats; 2022