Sustainable and Competitive Cell Production Techniques for Lithium-ion And Sodium-ion Batteries (BATT4EU Partnership)

Expected Outcome: Proposals are expected to contribute to all following points: Significantly enhanced competitiveness, resilience, and sustainability of the European battery cell manufacturing industry, achieving measurable reductions in capital expenditure (CAPEX), operational expenditure (OPEX), energy consumption, and environmental footprint compared to state-of-the-art processes. Demonstrated advanced manufacturing processes and equipment that substantially decrease battery production costs and improve overall production efficiency and battery quality. Established flexible and modular pilot production lines capable of efficiently transitioning between various battery chemistries and compositions, with demonstrated reduction in cross-contamination and effective management of sensitive materials. Scope: Proposals are expected to target the development and demonstration of innovative, next-generation battery cell manufacturing processes and machinery. These solutions are expected to explicitly focus on simultaneously achieving significant cost reductions and considerable decreases in energy consumption over the battery lifecycle, while maintaining or improving battery cell quality and sustainability metrics. Proposals are expected to address all of the following: Demonstration of flexible, modular, and reconfigurable machinery to be integrated in manufacturing pilot lines that effectively accommodate transitions between various lithium-ion chemistries/compositions and sodium-ion chemistries. Development and demonstration novel mixing systems and novel electrode manufacturing techniques with advanced inline quality control Optimization of dry-room cell assembly processes, including the development and validation of advanced assembly equipment and techniques to significantly increase cell assembly throughput rates, reduce overall energy consumption associated with maintaining dry-room conditions, and enhance environmental controls Establishment of rapid and energy-efficient cell formation processes, significantly shortening formation and aging times compared to state of the art and enhancing quality assurance. Digitalisation of the production line, including in-line quality testing and identification of defects. Inclusion of comprehensive techno-economic assessments (TEA) and life-cycle analyses (LCA) to demonstrate clear environmental, economic, and scalability advantages over existing, state-of-the-art battery cell manufacturing practices. The Commission initiative for Safe and Sustainable by Design [1] (SSbD) sets a framework for assessing the safety …