This public deliverable summarizes the contents of the workshop organized by CRF in April. In particular, this document:
– Summarize the topic and the content of the presentations performed during the workshop;
– Give a general overview of the general outcome of the conference.
The Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH), founded in 2000, is one of the leading research centres in Greece and listed among the TOP-20 E.U. research institutions with the highest participation in competitive research grants. It is a legal entity governed by private law with non-profit status, supervised by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation (GSRI) of the Greek Ministry of Development and Investments.
The Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH), founded in 2000, is one of the leading research centres in Greece and listed among the TOP-20 E.U. research institutions with the highest participation in competitive research grants. It is a legal entity governed by private law with non-profit status, supervised by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation (GSRI) of the Greek Ministry of Development and Investments. CERTH has significant scientific and technological achievements in Energy, Environment, Industry, Mechatronics, Information & Communication, Transportation & Sustainable Mobility, Health, Agro-biotechnology, Smart farming, Safety & Security, and several cross-disciplinary scientific areas. CERTH has participated successfully in more than 1.200 competitive research projects (with a total budget exceeding 450 M€ and involving more than 1.100 international partner organisations) financed by the European Union (E.U.), leading industries from the USA, Japan and Europe and the Greek Government. CERTH’s research results (more than 350 publications/year) have a significant scientific impact.
Today CERTH includes five research institutes with diverse fields of research. The Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI) is involved in the SPIDER project. CPERI conducts high calibre basic and applied research to develop novel technologies and products and pursue scientific and technological excellence in selected advanced areas such as Energy, Environment, Materials and Process Technologies in response to European and global industry needs. One of CPERI’s research groups is focused on electrochemical storage materials. The group takes advantage of advanced materials synthesis technologies available at CPERI for cell active materials development, as well as an extensive inventory of sophisticated physicochemical characterisation technologies.
Main contact: Dimitrios Zarvalis, CERTH
Dimitrios Zarvalis is a Chemical Engineer (Dipl. Chemical Engineering -Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and has a Master of Business Administration MBA from the U.K.). He has more than 20 years of professional engineering experience. As a research engineer at CPERI/CERTH, his work initially involved research on particle emissions from internal combustion engines for green mobility-related projects. During the last seven years, his research focused on developing and characterising materials for electrochemical storage applications, mainly for the automotive sector. He has participated in numerous national and E.U. research projects (among others, in eCAIMAN, TEESMAT, SPIDER and DEFACTO). He co-authored more than 30 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference proceedings.
Why have you chosen to get involved as WP6 leader?
WP6 inclines to a knowledge-based approach to elucidate the SPIDER materials development facilitating speedy progress towards the progress targets. It involves advanced materials and interfaces characterisation, electrical and abusive tests and modelling with the target to provide feedback for the synthesis of SPIDER materials and the subsequent cell manufacturing. CERTH’s team has established expertise in materials characterisation with advanced techniques such as RAMAN/FTIR analysis and 3D x-ray Microtomography. Moreover, the team has extended experience in project and work package management. Exploiting characterisation studies in combination with electrochemical testing to explain cell performance and ageing and to formulate optimised models is a challenging task that our team was fascinated to undertake.
What do you take out from this WP?
So far, in WP6, we have characterised the first generations of the SPIDER cells. Based on cells cycling electrochemical tests and post mortem analysis, we successfully analysed electrode surface and electrolyte decomposition products after the electrochemical reaction. We have used several techniques such as RAMAN/FTIR, SEM/EDS and SEM/FIB, XRD, XRF, XPS depth profiling and Microtomography. This work also helped formulate and implement the SPIDER electrochemical-thermal model to predict capacity decay. The organisation of cell samples handling, testing and analysis tasks between the partners is quite challenging. In addition, the limitations in the available samples in such research projects are also challenging. However, mobilising such a variety of techniques and testing/analysis capacity under the same cause is rewarding and may lead to exciting technical results and high-quality scientific publications.
What are your expectations from the SPIDER project?
We hope that by the end of the project, we will be able to analyse the performance of all the generations of SPIDER cells and achieve the maximum concerning the project targets relevant to cyclic stability and energy density. Also, we should describe the ageing mechanisms and provide proof of adequate safety of the SPIDER technology. The SPIDER physics-based comprehensive model with continuous feedback from testing will make us capable of defining the optimum cell operating strategy. So by the end of the project, we should be able to materialise a valuable characterisation and testing methodology that, together with the developed simulation models, will boost the Li-ion cell technology.
The Battery Innovation Days 2021 were held online from 23rd to 25th November, 2021. Some partners of the SPIDER consortium were presenters at this online event.
The Battery Innovation Days 2021 were held online from 23rd to 25th November, 2021. Some partners of the SPIDER consortium were presenters at this online event.
Elixabete Ayerbe Olano, from CIDETEC, spoke at the session “From raw materials to application: the indispensable necessity of digital development”. You can watch the full session on the website of the event: https://www.accelevents.com/e/the-battery-innovation-days/portal/schedule/215778
Simon Perraud, from CEA-LITEN, spoke at the session “New emerging market and applications (Airborne, waterborne, rail, off-road, agriculture)“: https://www.accelevents.com/e/the-battery-innovation-days/portal/schedule/215784
Stefan Koller, from VARTA, spoke at the session “Long term research for batteries: what are the next priorities?“: https://www.accelevents.com/e/the-battery-innovation-days/portal/schedule/215125
The 2nd SPIDER Review meeting was held online on September 21st, 2021.
The 2nd SPIDER Review meeting was held online on September 21st, 2021.
The appointed expert was updated on the progresses of each WP, and of the overall project. Specific discussions were held on the challenges encountered, with possible solutions to overcome them. Dissemination on the project was also focused on, along with the exploitation.
The Project Officer as well as the appointed expert asked interesting questions and made an overall positive assessment on the project progression.
The latest SPIDER General Assembly was held online on July 7th, 2021.
The latest SPIDER General Assembly was held online on July 7th, 2021.
WP leaders provided the whole consortium with updates on the progress of their respective WPs, i.e. on the advancement of research on the different parts of the SPIDER battery: anode, cathode, electrolyte, etc.; as well as its exploitation. The General Assembly is the place where all partners can share good news and ideas, but also discuss issues to solve, and highlight critical points.
The next important event for the SPIDER consortium will be the Project Review Meeting, scheduled for mid-September 2021.
The consortium now looks forward to being able to meet physically – maybe for the next General Assembly in December?
CEA is a French government-funded technological research organization with more than 15,000 employees. Its activities cover four main areas: (i) energy, (ii) defense & security, (iii) health & information technologies, and (iv) fundamental research.
CEA is a French government-funded technological research organization with more than 15,000 employees. Its activities cover four main areas: (i) energy, (ii) defense & security, (iii) health & information technologies, and (iv) fundamental research. The CEA has participated in numerous European projects both as partners and coordinators and has a long experience in the development of new materials and processes for Li-ion batteries as well as safety evaluation of commercial and R&D battery technologies. Located in Grenoble, the Laboratory for Innovation in New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials (LITEN) consists in around 1,000 people working on energy R&D (fuel cell, batteries, biomass, and solar application). CEA-LITEN has a unit dedicated to energy for transport application (Department of Electricity, Hydrogen and Transport, DEHT) which has more than 15 years of experience in new materials for Li-ions batteries. CEA-LITEN intellectual properties portfolio on Li-ion batteries is more than 100, on the topics of material synthesis, battery architecture, and BMS.
The Materials Battery Laboratory of CEA-Liten is dedicated to the development of the next generations of battery materials. CEA-LITEN researchers intensively investigate all parts of Li-ion batteries: NMC, Ni-rich, and Li-rich lamellar oxides, rock-salt-type materials for the positive electrode, and silicon-based composites for the negative electrode.
Main contact: David Peralta, CEA
David Peralta received his PhD degree in materials chemistry from the IFP of Lyon in 2011. His research focused on the synthesis and study of new adsorbents (MOFs and zeolites) for hydrocarbons separation in liquid and gas phases. He joined CEA Grenoble in 2012 as chemical researcher to develop new materials for Li-ion batteries. His main interest is the synthesis of cathode oxide materials for high-energy applications. He was already involved as coordinator and work package leader in several institutional projects (GEMINI, Close the Loop, BASMATI and ECAIMAN).
Why have you chosen to get involved as WP4 leader?
The WP3 leader has a key function to develop a precise part of the project. My main research interests are linked to the development of new materials for Li-ion batteries. For the cathode part, materials with disordered rocksalt structures are largely investigated in the literature and CEA-LITEN has been working on them for a couple of years now. Moreover, many other exciting topics in terms of material chemistry are addressed in this work package. For example, we are evaluating a new synthesis process based on laser spray pyrolysis to produce materials. A large part of this WP is also dedicated to the development of silicon-graphite composites with very high capacity, which is one of the main lever to obtain cells with a very high energy in the future.
What do you take out from this WP?
Even if the project is not finished we already obtained very interesting results for both the cathode and the anode. Producing cells with a very high energy by limiting the content of the critical element generally leads to the use of unstable materials. It is the case in the SPIDER project: we develop material at the state of the art in terms of performances but the reactivity of these compounds makes the WP3 tasks difficult. The SPIDER project makes us perform fine characterizations to understand the cause for the instability of materials. Then, we evaluate several solutions like surface treatments, doping or other. We clearly gain in terms of understanding and in terms of know-how thanks to this project.
What are your expectations from the SPIDER project?
We hope that the material developed in WP3 will help to produce the next generation of high-energy cells. In parallel, new projects will be set up to investigate these materials in all solid-state batteries.
The Politecnico di Milano University (POLIMI) was established in 1863 and has approximately 40,000 students and 1,400 professors as permanent staff in its seven campuses, which makes it the largest institution in Italy for Engineering, Architecture and Industrial Design.
The Politecnico di Milano University (POLIMI) was established in 1863 and has approximately 40,000 students and 1,400 professors as permanent staff in its seven campuses, which makes it the largest institution in Italy for Engineering, Architecture and Industrial Design. POLIMI is ranked n°2 in the EU and n°20 in the world for Engineering and Technology as per QS ranking in 2021. In 2018, the Department of Energy has been awarded by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) as “Department of Excellence” with a project specifically focusing on energy-related technologies. One main step has been the creation of a new research group with competence on the development of new-generation batteries, with a focus on materials development and characterization, hiring from other institutions three experts with a strong background in battery research including Prof. E. Paillard and Prof. Li and Prof. B. Bozzini.
The Electrochemical Energy Storage Materials Engineering Laboratory is progressively getting equipped and already possesses 104 battery cycler channels from 10 mA up to 20 A for testing cells within both WP4 (coin cells) and WP6 (pouch cells). Beside E. Paillard, Prof. Jie Li is involved in SPIDER as well as a PhD student, Jiajia Wan.
Main contact: Elie Paillard, POLIMI
After studies at National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble (INPG, France), E. Paillard did his PhD thesis in LEPMI, INPG on ‘New Polymer Electrolyte for Lithium Battery’ obtained in 2008. He then did a 2 year post-doc in NC State University, USA on ionic liquid electrolytes for lithium batteries and supercapacitors before joining in 2010 the MEET Battery Research Center, in Münster, Germany. In 2014, he joined Helmholtz Institute Ulm, Germany, and in 2015, he started his own group in Helmholtz Institute Münster (FZJ), focusing on electrolyte development. He was involved as a PI in the following EU projects: SPICY, SPIDER, VIDICAT, BATTERY2030+. He joined POLIMI in 2020 as an associate professor. He co-authored > 72 scientific publications, 3 book chapters, 10 patents and has a h index (google) of 30.
Why have you chosen to get involved as WP4 leader?
WP4 deals with electrolyte development, which is one of my oldest interest in the battery field and absolutely crucial for Li-ion batteries, especially when dealing with challenging electrodes, be them high Ni cathodes or high Si anodes. While critical for performance in terms of sustained energy density (capacity losses via side reactions), power and fast charge (ionic transport through bulk electrolyte, interfaces and interphases), the electrolyte is also a main risk factor. Indeed, it is usually highly flammable and, together with the separator, contains several times more ‘potential energy release’ in case of combustion, than the electrical energy that the battery can deliver. It is why SPIDER aims at reducing the risk of organic electrolytes via the removal of the most volatile compounds and the engineering of interfaces, while maintaining practical performance for automotive applications. When I started being involved in SPIDER, FZJ and the MEET institute were sharing the use of a High Throughput Screening (HTS) equipment, set-up by my colleague Dr. Cekic-Laskovic. This is quite a futuristic robotized equipment, that can formulate 10’s of electrolyte formulations in a day and then automatically assemble cells for testing. Thus, it accelerates the optimization work that must be done for the practical tuning of the electrolytes, especially the ‘additive’ part, to a given cell configuration and chemistry. Besides, innovative concepts are also being investigated at POLIMI and the HTS could allow their rapid implementation. Having Solvay, Centro Ricerche Fiat and CIDETEC in support in the WP, as well as CEA for assessing the safety of the cells that include our electrolytes makes SPIDER a good environment in terms of electrolyte development with a good balance between innovation and optimization.
What do you take out from this WP?
So far, we managed to increase by more than 50% the cycle life each of the two first generations of battery cells at lab scale. Nevertheless, practical issues such as the availability of cells components for instance compatible separators can play a critical role in the transfer of laboratory results to larger cells. This needs to be considered as the sourcing of battery components can be time consuming, especially in regards to the project timeline. As for the other WPs, we had to deal with the COVID, which has been a hassle since electrolyte development requires time in the lab.
What are your expectations from the SPIDER project?
I hope that the advances made in other WPs can be transferred into WP4 as prelithiation, for instance, could allow for a greater flexibility in terms of electrolyte development, for instance by lowering the requirements in terms of first cycle efficiency, which is a main constrain for electrolytes. I hope that the tasks that were launched recently within WP4 will lead to scientific advances that would complement nicely the more ‘technological’ progresses made so far and that science and technology will meet for the last generation of SPIDER cells and allow, in the meantime, to generate new IP that could be used in the booming EU Li-ion sector.
Iratxe de Meatza from CIDETEC Energy Storage presented work carried out in SPIDER as part of the cathode electrode processing and manufacturing activities at the Swiss Battery Days 2021.
Swiss Battery Days 2021 in honor of Prof. Dr. Petr Novák was organized by Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) as a three-day online conference on 15-17 February 2021.
The scientific program of the conference was dedicated to academic and industrial aspects of battery R&D, with particular focus on Li-based systems. The conference details and program can be found via this link. An after-event note was released by PSI, mentioning the success of gathering about 600 young and experienced scientist attending from all over the world. On topics particularly relevant to SPIDER activities, several interesting talks and posters were dealing with silicon-based anode developments, prelithiation assessment studies and high energy cathode (Li and/or Ni-rich NMC) development and processing, as well as operando characterization.
At this online event and through “poster chat rooms” for viewing and interactions in the poster sessions, Iratxe de Meatza from CIDETEC Energy Storage presented work carried out in SPIDER as part of the cathode electrode processing and manufacturing activities. The poster presented findings on the storage aging effect on both NMC811 active material powder with slurry processing of this aged powder, as well as aged electrodes: “Influence of the ambient storage of NMC811 powder and electrodes on the electrochemical performance in Li-ion technology” Iratxe de Meatza, Imanol Landa-Medrano, Susana Sananes-Israel, Silvia Lijó-Pando, Aitor Eguia-Barrio, Iker Boyano, Idoia Urdampilleta.
Interesting Q&A and exchanges were happening in this online poster room, having several “screen-to-screen” live conversations and more frequently through the written chat room function, with a total of around 20 interactions with conference attendees.
CIDETEC presented the following poster at the conference:
The Coordinator of SPIDER Cédric Haon (CEA) presented SPIDER at the 4th Edition of H2020 Road Transport Research European Conference, which was held online on November 30th, 2020 and December 1st, 2020.
The Coordinator of SPIDER Cédric Haon (CEA) presented SPIDER at the 4th Edition of H2020 Road Transport Research European Conference, which was held online on November 30th, 2020 and December 1st, 2020.
The presentation of SPIDER was included in the session on “Green Vehicles Batteries integration into the vehicles”, along with other H2020 projects: iModBatt, EVERLASTING and SELFIE.
Cédric Haon (CEA) presenting SPIDER at the online H2020 Road Transport Research European Conference
The development of novel nonaqueous aprotic electrolytes within the SPIDER project intends to enable long cycle life Si-Gr-based lithium ion battery cells with significantly advanced safety. For this reason, high throughput screening (HTS) equipment, available at Helmholtz Institute Münster/Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), was employed to fully automatically formulate 50 electrolytes varying in composition (HTS System I, Figure 1) for each generation of prototype cells.
Authors: Isidora Cekic-Laskovic (FZJ) and Elie Paillard (POLIMI)
The development of novel nonaqueous aprotic electrolytes within the SPIDER project intends to enable long cycle life Si-Gr-based lithium ion battery cells with significantly advanced safety. For this reason, high throughput screening (HTS) equipment, available at Helmholtz Institute Münster/Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), was employed to fully automatically formulate 50 electrolytes varying in composition (HTS System I, Figure 1) for each generation of prototype cells. Coin cells are then automatically assembled using electrodes developed in WP5 by a HTS System II (Figure 1), while online measurement allowed for determining water content in electrolyte formulations. All the information are stored in the laboratory information management system (LIMS) database and printed via 2 D data matrix code onto the electrolyte containing vials and coin cells.
Figure 1. Illustration of the high throughput screening system at FZJ
This approach allows identification of the most appropriate electrolyte combination possible for a given cell chemistry, using functional additives, co-solvents and conducting salts provided by SOLVAY. The lead electrolyte formulations are thereafter sent to CIDETEC to validate the results in cell prototypes and select the best functional additive. Centro Ricerche Fiat (CRF) contributes in analysing the gases produced at the electrodes via differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) for gaining insights into the anodic and cathodic interfacial reactions.
The first generation of SPIDER prototype cells uses an electrolyte formulation optimized in terms of functional additives and derived from a state-of-the-art formulation developed with only cell electrochemical performance in mind that allowed a 20% increase in terms of cycle life. Besides, non-flammable and low flammability electrolyte lines are being developed at FZJ and Politecnico di Milano and are already included in the screening for GEN1 cells.
