A new European project, Astrabat, has been launched to design an innovative high-energy and safe, solid-state lithium-ion battery cell for the electric vehicle market and beyond. The goal is to fulfil Europe’s need for a safe, high-energy, sustainable and marketable battery for green mobility.
Production of test cells with new battery materials
K. Dobberke, Fraunhofer ISC
As society turns to electric vehicles, the challenge to produce batteries in Europe on a massive scale has now become acute, with Asian competitors well ahead in the game. The project Astrabat is funded by the European Union with a total budget of 7.8 million Euros and is scheduled to run for four years.
Led by France’s CEA (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternative), the project will focus on developing a better, safe and environmental-friendly cell architecture. This will come with an all solid-state electrolyte design suited to the new high-energy electrode materials and compatible with current mass-production processes. The hybrid electrolyte will be based on polymers (Ormocer and fluorocarbon polymers) and an inorganic filler and membrane (LLZO). For the ceramic LLZO material, an ionic conductivity of 0.4 mS/cm in the range temperature of 10 °C–50 °C will be achieved via Al-doping or Ta-doping. This should enable a decrease of the cell operating temperature and render a more efficient electric vehicle.
The main objectives of the project are:
- To develop materials for a solid hybrid electrolyte and electrodes enabling high energy, high voltage and reliable all-solid-state Li-ion cells;
- To adapt the development of new all-solid-state batteries to a conventional process adopted for manufacturing electrodes in Li-ion cells;
- To design an all-solid-state-battery architecture for the next generation of 2030 Li-ion batteries;
- To define an efficient cell architecture to comply with improved safety demands;To generate a new value chain of all-solid-state batteries, including eco design, end of life and recycling.
The project is run by a consortium of 14 partners from eight European countries, including leading research centers and universities, as well as companies in the area of battery and energy. These parties have extensive track records in the field of battery and associated technologies. This includes state-of-the-art simulation and analytical methods, extensive synthesis know-how and the use of future-oriented production technologies.
Astrabat is funded by the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) of the European Commission, for a total budget of approximately 8 million Euros. The project is part of a broader drive by the European Union to boost electric mobility in order to help achieve its goal to slash green-house gas emissions by 80–95 % by 2050. It is of strategic importance for Europe to come up with a competitive Li-ion battery and become self-sufficient in its energy transition models.