The race continues to create new technologies to prepare the battery industry for the transition to a future with more renewable energy. In this competitive environment, it is difficult to predict which companies and solutions will come out on top.
Companies and universities around the world are rushing to develop new manufacturing processes to reduce the cost and environmental impact of battery production. They are working on developing new approaches to building both the cathode and anode (the negatively and positively charged parts of a battery) and even using different ions to hold the charge. While you can’t see every technology in development, you can look at some to get an idea of the problems people are trying to solve.
Manufacture of cleaners
California-based company Silvatex has developed an efficient cathode active material (CAM) manufacturing process that uses no water. “This process innovation reduces the total cost of CAM by 25%, reduces energy usage by 80%, and eliminates water use and sodium sulfate waste streams,” said his CEO and founder of Silvatex. said Virginia Klausmeyer.
Klausmeier said Silvatex’s goal is to impact the carbon footprint of the battery manufacturing process. He argued that other companies are expanding inefficient processes as the market grows rapidly. “These plants use 200 million gallons of water a year. The cathode material accounts for 50 to 70 percent of the cost of a battery pack.”
The typical process for manufacturing lithium-ion cathodes and batteries involves many steps, said Alex Koshakov, co-founder and CEO of battery parts company Natrion. Manufacturers start by extracting ores that have low initial concentrations of mined metals such as cobalt, manganese, aluminum, and nickel. They are crushed into very small pieces in a giant vat containing rotating blades and ceramic balls.
Companies treat the ore with a sulfuric acid solution containing large amounts of water. The sulfate is extracted after this step. This process releases sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, creating acid rain and creating workplace safety issues.
The manufacturer then mixes the sulfate and lithium salts, combines them and grinds them into a powder. Huge furnaces heat the powder to high temperatures to remove impurities, then heat it again to fuse the lithium with the metal and oxygen.
After this, the powder is usually ground again to produce the cathode. The resulting powder is then combined with a solvent and a binder to create an ink or slurry. Apply the resulting liquid to aluminum foil and let it dry. The coated foil is then cut to size, laminated with other battery materials, and the resulting layers are pressed in a rolling press and wound onto a spool or coil into a battery can.
“What we’ve done is developed what we call a ‘next generation’ process that uses no water,” Klausmeier said. “Taking advantage of the versatility and flexibility of feedstocks that do not contain sulfate molecules eliminates waste and allows us to use recycled materials and a wide range of inputs from mining and refining materials that require mining. ” and sophistication decreased. ”
Klausmeyer said her company uses hydroxides or metal oxides as raw materials. The process involves combining these ingredients in a pot with her proprietary additives, which she describes as “not really surfactants.” This is followed by a firing step. (Calcining raises the temperature of a compound in an oxygen-limited environment, but not so much that it melts.)
Removing sulfur from the process reduces manufacturing hazards when creating CAM.
