Empa wants to optimise car batteries

(CONNECT) In order to achieve the target of not selling any cars with combustion engines in Europe from 2035, the performance of the energy-producing batteries must be significantly increased. Teams from science and industry led by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have therefore committed to optimising lithium-ion batteries in a project called SeNSE, which is funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 programme . According to a press release from Empa, the four-year project has been completed with initial successes.

The SeNSE project, which was funded by the EU with 10 million euros, was led by the Dübendorf-based Materials for Energy Conversion laboratory. The research, which also involved other European scientific institutes and industry representatives, resulted in a higher energy density and a more favorable environmental balance, fast charging capability and increased fire safety - and cost-effectiveness. In particular, the cobalt content in the cathodes of the batteries was reduced. In the anode, the researchers were able to replace some of the rarer graphite with silicon, one of the most abundant elements in the earth's crust, . Greater fire safety was achieved by modifying the electrolyte solution. In addition, a temperature management system was developed to monitor the battery charge in real time. This allowed batteries to be charged quickly without damaging them by overheating.

Pilot plants have been set up and various patents registered as part of SeNSE. However, industrial implementation will still take time. "We have scaled up all new developments from laboratory to pilot scale," said Corsin Battaglia, Head of the Empa laboratory, in the press release. "For production with an annual production capacity of several gigawatt hours of batteries, the entire material production would have to be scaled up again by a factor of 1000." This requires the commitment of the industry, according to the press release. ce/ww