Category: News

Focus on WP7 – Preparation of Market Entry within a Circular value chain Led by NTNU

Presentation of NTNU

WP leader:

The WP is led by Anders Hammer Strømman with support from Lorenzo Usai. Anders is a Professor with the Industrial Ecology Programme at NTNU. He has worked on life cycle assessment of energy and transport technologies and systems for more than 20yr. While he has worked across many sectors and environmental issues, batteries and electric vehicles have been central in his portfolio for around 15 yrs. Lorenzo Usai currently has the lead on Life Cycle Assessment of batteries in the group and is the leading researcher on the Spider project. Both also contributed to the latest report on mitigation from the intergovernmental panel on climate change.

Short interview:

– Why have you chosen to get involved as WP7 leader?
First of all it is a team with very skilled but also very nice people. That is important to us. As for the motivation, from a professional perspective, it is very straight forward. We sincerely believe that for a new battery chemistry to be successful, we need to work on both environmental, cost and recyclability aspects and provide insights from that back into the work on developing the technology. That is, it is not sufficient that the technology works from a technological perspective, it also needs to be sustainable in terms of environmental aspects including recycling and competitive in terms of costs.

-What do you take out from this WP?
Working on a project that is developing a new battery chemistry is always very gratifying and challenging. However, thus far the WP work has been very interesting, and we gained many new insights on the current and future potential impacts on the market and on the environment of new battery technologies. So far, we have learnt that while the newly developed technology may have higher manufacturing costs and impacts, its higher performance and longer cycle life can provide across the whole life cycle better economic and environmental performance compared to the current state-of-the-art.

– What are your expectations from the SPIDER project?
From the SPIDER project we expect to get a better understanding of the potential impacts and costs of the battery cells that have been developed in the past three years by our project partners. To do so, we are currently working on a joint model that is able to increase the robustness and the insights we can get from environmental and cost assessments. Furthermore, we aim at increasing our knowledge on potential recycling routes and on the market solutions, such as 2nd life applications, for novel battery chemistries.

NTNU’s Lab

NTNU Industrial Ecology is an interdisciplinary research programme specialized in environmental sustainability analysis with a mission is to provide high quality research and education in the field of industrial ecology for supporting the global community in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Industrial Ecology Programme is a well-established interdisciplinary research group in the field of environmental sustainability analysis, with publications featured in top-ranked journals, direct contributions to assessment reports from the IPCC and the International Resource Panel. IndEcol is involved in European and national research projects, and is currently leading or participating in several large-scale projects and initiatives, including ERC Grants, National Centers for Research-based Innovation and for Environment-friendly Energy Research. The programme was initiated in 1994 and covers several research disciplines and a comprehensive educational curriculum for master and PhD students. We established the world’s first PhD programme in Industrial Ecology in 2003, and set up the international Master of Science in Industrial Ecology the following year. Currently we also hosts the European editorial office of the Journal of Industrial Ecology. Currently we have 7 full professors and a handful of adjunct professors. The total number of scientific staff is around 60.

Any other info you would like to share

Currently, the NTNU team besides Anders and Lorenzo is made by 2 more PhD students, one PostDoc and one Research Assistant. Sina Orangi and Nelson Manjong are the PhD students working on the modelling of a process-based battery production model and on the criticality and impacts of key battery raw materials value chains, respectively. Daniel Clos is a PostDoc fellow, with a PhD in material sciences, currently working on the modelling of battery production systems. Iman Dorri just is a research assistant with his expertise on process-based modelling of recycling technologies applied to Life Cycle Assessment. The team will work jointly to develop a flexible python-based life cycle assessment model that will allow the users to specify the cells to be analyzed (e.g. chemistry and format), parameterize key levers along the value chains of key raw materials, and calculate the manufacturing impacts based on a process-based manufacturing model.

Focus on WP5 – Cell Manufacturing Led by CIDETEC

Presentation of CIDETEC

CIDETEC is an organization for applied research that integrates three international reference institutes in the fields of Energy Storage, Surface Engineering and Nanomedicine. In the Energy Storage field, our activity covers the entire value chain from material chemistry to final application. We design and develop cells, modules and battery packs tailored to our customers’ needs, with a clear commitment towards technology transfer to industry. CIDETEC Energy storage also participates in different EU granted projects and is a founding member of Battery 2030+ and ETIP Batteries Europe, chairing WG4 – Cell Design and Manufacturing, amongst other initiatives.

WP leader: Susan Sananes Israel

Main contact: ssananes@cidetec.es

Dr. Susan Sananes Israel is a researcher in material chemistry and project manager at CIDETEC Energy Storage, in the Li-ion group. She is leading different projects with private and European partners. She is graduated from the University of Montpellier with a Masters Degree in Material Chemistry for Energy and Sustainability. Her PhD in Material Chemistry, focused on the ion confinement in porous media and fonctionnalisation by Supercritical CO2 was obtained in 2018. She is author and co-author of several publications focused on Li-ion batteries and porous media.

Short interview:

– Why have you chosen to get involved as WP5 leader?
CIDETEC Energy storage has a strong know-how on material processing, electrode formulation and prototype cell assembly. In WP5, the main target is to manufacture cells with all the components (electrodes, electrolyte) developed in WP3 and WP4. We start from the material level, preparing slurries at laboratory scale. Once the formulation is optimised, the electrode slurry is coated at pilot line level and prototype pouch cells can be assembled with all the different chemistries used in the project. The use of novel materials such as Si composites and high Ni NMC materials is very interesting for CIDETEC, to enhance our experience on the processing of novel materials for high energy density applications.

– What do you take out from this WP?
We work in collaboration with industrial centers (VARTA Innovation) and research institutes (Technical University of Munich) in order to find the best cell design, and to manufacture pouch cells with advanced Li-ion chemistry. The development of a prelithiation protocol applicable to pouch cells is also very innovative as, for the moment, this is something that has not been used in commercial cells and results that have been obtained for the moment are very promising. Moreover, this WP also allowed to work on aqueous-based formulations using high-nickel NMC, which can help to build more sustainable batteries in the future.

– What are your expectations from the SPIDER project?
Participating in SPIDER project allow to increase the know-how and capabilities of CIDETEC regarding human ressources, towards the development of new electrodes formulations and protocols with high Ni- NMC materials. SPIDER also enhances the collaboration between all the partners of the consortium, with the common goal to develop a recyclable high energy density cell with a long cycle life. Despite the COVID situation, the coordination of the project with different periodic meetings allowed to have an overview of the recent progresses of the project in all the WP, so as to facilitate the communitacion between the different WP. Moreover, we hosted the 8th SPIDER General assembly in San Sebastián, which gave us the possibility to meet physically and exchange ideas for publications and new collaborations.
Currently, the project is almost finished and we have a very positive impact and exploitable results from SPIDER project, with 1 accepted article (and some others in preparation) so as the participation to 3 conferences.

CIDETEC’s Lab

Name and short description, persons involved etc.

Cidetec energy storage unit is divided into two different units. On one hand, the Unit for Storage Systems, working on a cell to pack level with the design and modelling of future battery packs. On the other hand, the Unit of Materials for Energy that works in different energy storage technologies (Li-ion, Solid State Batteries, Li-sulfur, Ca-ion, fuel cells) from the material scale to the high scale prototype level. In total, there are more than 100 persons working on the research and development of the future batteries. The Li-ion group counts with more than 20 persons, technicians and researchers, that work in collaboration in different private and public-founded projects. We enjoy taking part in SPIDR project and having interactions with the consortium.

Any other info you would like to share

Feel free to visit Cidetec Energy Storage ’s website:
https://energystorage.cidetec.es/en/home

General Assembly meeting in San Sebastian (Spain)

The eighth and last general assembly was held at CIDETEC on June, 21 and 22 2022 in San Sebastian. It was the fisrt meeting in face-to-face since the Covid-19 pandemic.

First day, all WP leaders presented the Work Package progresses made for last 6 months.

Second day, all partners present on site visited the CIDETEC facilities. Then we organised Open group discussions on Dissemination and Communication activities and open points in order to prepare the last deliverables, the final technical report and the final review meeting.

The next and last important event for the SPIDER consortium will be the Final Review Meeting, scheduled for September,13th 2022.

SPIDER workshop

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.

You may access it here

Online SPIDER WORKSHOP

The SPIDER workshop will be held online on April 14th , 2022 (9AM – 1PM). Several partners of SPIDER project will present their activity with a focus on batteries. Free registration are possible here.

The program is:

9:00-9:05

Welcome

9:05- 9:20

“Spider Project” – Cedric Haon (CEA)

9:25-9:55

 “Influence of the ambient storage on NMC811-based Li-ion cathode performance and overview of CIDETEC pilot line facilities” – Susana Sananes (CIDETEC)

10:00-10:30

 “How  to limit cobalt in cathode materials” – David Peralta (CEA)

10:35-11:05

“Current status and future prospects of the LCAs of Li-ion batteries” – Lorenzo Usai (NTNU)

11:10-11:40

 “Fundamentals of physics-based modelling and its application to batteries” – Odile Capron (VITO)

11:45-12:15

 Stellantis plan for vehicle electrification – Daniele Pullini (CRF)

12:45-13:00

Final  Discussion & Conclusions

Focus on WP6 – Characterization, modelling and tests led by CERTH

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.

Battery Innovation Days 2021

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

M33 Review meeting

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.

M31 General Assembly meeting

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?

Focus on WP3 – Active materials development led by CEA

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.