Overview
Lithium-iron phosphate is an adequate candidate on the cathode side in order to meet the objective of low cost manufacturing and simultaneous environmental friendliness
The project focuses on the realization of electrodes with a surface charge as high as possible in order to meet the high specific capacity of the silicon anodes.
The project aims to develop a cell with an energy density more than 200 Wh / kg compared to state-of-the-art lithium-ion cells. In addition, the focus will be on material innovations, particularly on the anode and cathode
materials that are produced using standard industrial processes, or at least with methods that can be implemented in an existing production line, while respecting the already existing safety regulations. This makes the cell
competitive in terms of manufacturing costs. The environmental compatibility of the materials also facilitates the handling and subsequent disposal of the cells.
The silicon electrodes are produced by a high-frequency sputtering process and are optimized for the highest possible loading and cycle stability. Multi-layer pouch cells are used for electrochemical characterization. The realization of an adapted pouch cell technology forms the content of a further work package. Silicon as anode material has a significantly higher theoretical capacity (4200 mAh / g) compared to carbon-based anode materials (372 mAh / g). The challenge continues to be in cycle stability, which is limited by the strong volume change during the cycle.
Funding
Results
Si-anodes provide acceptable cycles in case of a structuring process immediately after the production process took place in order to avoid mechanical voltage. The anodes show advantages with respect to the energy density of batteries which are changed ater being 1 or two years in use.
The final report of the study is available via the Library Technical University of Hannover (TIB), German only: