Monday March 31st - 9am EDT

Sponsored by:
Beyond Li: Na, K and Al based batteries-progress, challenges and prospect

To mitigate climate change and achieve a carbon-neutral society before it is too late, a mix of sustainable energy technologies is needed. The vital role of batteries in decarbonizing transportation and storing intermittent renewable energy will be discussed. The revolution brought by Li-ion batteries in the electrification of transportation and their significant contribution to grid storage will be presented. However, concerns regarding the availability of minerals currently used in Li-ion batteries, especially in light of the predicted growth in battery demand, will be addressed. The need for diversification of battery technologies with more sustainable options, not only for the raw minerals used in future batteries but also for more sustainable manufacturing practices for cells and packs, will be highlighted. In the talk, some of these sustainable practices that need to be implemented today will be touched upon, while the 12 principles of “green batteries” inspired by “green chemistry” introduced by the research group will be shown. The focus will then shift to Na-ion batteries, the next battery technology in line for commercialization in 2024, with an emphasis on research on hard carbon anodes and understanding the fundamentals of Na-ion storage using a mix of characterization techniques coupled with electrochemistry. The importance and complexity of solid electrolyte interfaces and some perspectives on commercialization from the research group will also be discussed. New insights into the intercalation of alkali metals into graphite, a very old research topic, will be presented. An in-depth study on K intercalation in graphite using a combination of Raman (including low-frequency band analysis), XRD, dilatometry, optical microscopy, and DFT calculations, coupled with electrochemistry and post-mortem TOF-SIMS, which reveal the formation of a solid electrolyte interface responsible for capacity loss in the first cycles, will be shared. Additionally, a presentation on Al-ionic liquid-graphite dual-ion battery configurations will be given, focusing on the Al anode corrosion and degradation using XPS, XAFS, and post-mortem microscopy after various cycles, as well as understanding the intercalation of AlCl4- in graphite, soft and hard carbon, and the differences in the storage mechanisms among these classes of carbons.

Magda Titirici
Professor @ Imperial College London

Monday March 31st -11am EDT

Sponsored by:

How Calorimetry and Gas Chromatography can help in Battery Research

With increasing energy density the thermal management of Li-ion batteries is becoming more and more important, because the thermal runaway can cause an ignition or even explosion of the battery with simultaneous release of toxic gases. In the last 14 years, we have established battery calorimetry as a versatile characterization technique, which allows advancements for the thermal management and the safety of batteries. With six adiabatic Accelerating Rate Calorimeters of different sizes and two sensitive Tian-Calvet calorimeters combined with cyclers we operate Europe’s largest battery calorimeter center, which enables the evaluation of thermodynamic, thermal and safety data on material, cell and pack level under quasiadiabatic and isoperibolic environments for both normal and abuse conditions (thermal, electrical, mechanical).  It will be shown that calorimetry has brought a promising progress in safety testing, because it allows to collecting quantitative data on temperature, heat and internal pressure while operating the cell under conditions of normal use, abuse or accidents. A test in the calorimeter reveals the entire process of the thermal runaway with the different stages of exothermic reactions. As a result of the different tests quantitative and system relevant data for temperature, heat and pressure development of materials and cells are provided.  In addition, first results for combining the calorimetry with gas chromatography will be shown.  How Calorimetry and Gas Chromatography can help in Battery Research

Carlos Ziebert
Dr. rer. nat @ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Tuesday April 1st -11am EDT

Laser drying processes – Challenges and opportunities

Due to the increasing demand for energy storage systems in the course of the energy transition, modern and energy-efficient manufacturing processes for energy storage are required. A particularly energy-intensive step in the production of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is drying. Traditionally, this is done in long conveyor ovens, which are still powered by fossil gas at 92% and occupy a lot of space. The use of laser radiation for drying aims to reduce energy and space requirements. Fraunhofer ILT is developing a laser-based drying process for LIB electrodes. By using laser radiation for efficient drying of LIB anodes, energy requirements can be reduced by up to 50%. According to current results, the required drying length can be reduced by at least 60%. The components contained in the anode are not damaged by the laser radiation when appropriate process monitoring, and closed control loops are used. The anodes produced in this way have the same properties as electrodes dried using conventional methods. Through a specially developed exhaust concept, an adapted process control, and process understanding, the web speeds are currently being further increased to industrially relevant scales and combined with downstream laser structuring processes.

Samuel Moritz Fink 
Dr. -Ing. @ Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology 

Tuesday April 1st -8am EDT

Innovative Reprocessable Electrolytes: Elevating Battery Safety and Performance

Lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) play a crucial role in driving the global transition towards carbon negative/neutral energy solutions. While traditional LiBs are widely utilized across various applications, they face pressing challenges, including the need for higher energy densities and improved safety performance. One of the major safety issues associated with traditional LiBs involves the use of organic solvent-based electrolytes, posing a risk of thermal runaway - a chain reaction that can lead to fires and explosions. To overcome these challenges, alternative materials for electrolytes, such as ionic liquids and poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), have garnered significant attention. These materials offer superior electrochemical and thermal stability, effectively mitigating safety concerns. Moreover, integrating smart functionalities like self-healing can drastically enhance the longevity and reliability of LiBs. In this webseminar, we will discuss our research on innovative multicomponent gel materials that embed advantageous properties of ionic liquids within a polymer matrix. By leveraging a synergistic combination of dynamic non-covalent and covalent crosslinking, these materials achieve remarkable mechanical stability. The optimized materials poses excellent ionic conductivity, outstanding thermal and electrochemical stability. Moreover, our synthetic concept allows the design of high-performance polymeric materials with advanced functionalities (self-healing, recyclability, reprocessability, 3D-printability) tailored for next-generation energy storage systems, paving the way toward a sustainable, circular economy.

Wolfgang Binder
Prof. Dr. @ Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg 

Wednesday April 2nd -10am EDT

Characterization of process water in the recycling of lithium-ion batteries

Water-using recycling processes - such as wet shredding and electro-hydraulic fragmentation - generate large amounts of contaminated process water, resulting in increased costs for hazardous waste disposal and safety regulations. To improve the wastewater management, safety and sustainability of water-assisted recycling processes, comprehensive knowledge of the battery components in the water is required. Analytical methods can play an important role in these processes, including wet comminution processes, wastewater management and analytical methods.

Sascha Nowak
Dr. @ MEET Battery Research Center at Münster University