Overview
SOMABAT aims to develop more environmental friendly, safer and better performing high power Li polymer battery by the development of novel breakthrough recyclable solid materials to be used as anode, cathode and solid polymer electrolyte, new alternatives to recycle the different components of the battery and cycle life analysis.
- Development of synthetic and recyclable materials with specific properties through new synthesis and processing methods.
- Development of a new battery management system according to the developed materials.
- Modelling of lithium (Li) polymer battery cell's behaviour.
- Integration and testing of the optimised materials in the lithium polymer cells/battery.
- Study of the recyclability aspects of the battery components.
- Analysis of the environmental impact and sustainability of the developed lithium polymer battery by means of life cycle assessment.
This challenge will be achieved by using new low-cost synthesis and processing methods in which it is possible to tailor the different properties of the materials. Development of different novel synthetic and recyclable materials based carbon based hybrid materials, novel LiFePO4 and LiFeMnPO4 based nanocomposite cathode with a conductive polymers or carbons, and highly conductive electrolyte membranes with porous architecture based on fluorinated matrices with nanosized particles and others based on a series of polyphosphates and polyphosphonates polymers will respond to the very ambitious challenge of adequate energy density, lifetime and safety. An assessment and test of the potential recyclability and revalorisation of the battery components developed and life cycle assessment of the cell will allow the development of a more environmental friendly Li polymer battery in which a 50 % weight of the battery will be recyclable and a reduction of the final cost of the battery up to 150 Euro/KWh. The consortium has made up with experts in the field and complementary in terms of R&D expertise and geographic distribution.
Funding
Results
The project met all the objectives set for its duration, which have resulted in the main following achievements:
- Development of synthetic and recyclable materials
Concerning the design of Gen#1 LFP products, flowsheet was optimized to be able to reach the cost targets of the project. In the same time, performances criteria such as cycle life and power were looked at in order to propose a product suitable for large cells market. Upscaling was done in order to produce large quantities for Cegasa to build scale 1 cells. Products were also sampled to external customers for further market adoption. Then, a high voltage cathode material was successfully developed at lab scale, the benefit of it being to increase the cell voltage and energy density. Substitution of iron by other elements in the LFP structure leads to some inherent loss of power performances. These losses have to be reduced before being able to upscale the Gen#2 phosphate materials to pilot production.
- Design, development & modelling of a lithium polimery battery
CEGASA has proposed the 1st generation (GEN1) design for the SOMABAT Li polymer cells, with stacked electrode/membrane pouch cell design and large size automotive format, so the scalability of the materials can be proved. Since the active area of the electrodes to stack is ~ 80x160mm, CEGASA has worked on the slurry formulation and fabrication of the electrodes from the active materials provided from M14 onwards, while ITE and ICT have optimized and scaled-up the casting process to prepare up to the 70 membranes (85x168mm; 50mkm thickness) required for one cell.
- Recyclability of Battery Components
The chemical treatment was made in room temperature safe way and iron oxide was recovered from iron based cathode using dissolution/precipitation shuttle process leading to efficient separation between iron and lithium. The last metal is precipitated as Li2CO3. The mechanical and chemical treatment was carried out with closed relation with the Recycling Efficiency according to EU Directive 066. The expected mass balances of the cells planned in SOMABAT Process depends on the route (solvent or water route).
- Sustainability assessment of Li polymer battery
The sustainability assessment focuses on a complete LCA which analyses both environmental aspects and impacts of the final Li-polymer battery developed in SOMABAT.
The goal and scope of LCA i