A researcher at ETH Zurich is working to develop a new manufacturing process for solid-state batteries.Â
High performance cost-effective batteries are the key to e-mobility adoption. ETH Pioneer Fellow Paul Baade is looking into how to manufacture them more cost-effectively. He, alongside his supervisor Vanessa Wood, now Vice President for Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Relations at ETH, has been developing a new manufacturing process for solid-state batteries.
His main focus is on the coating process. He in his own testing facility demonstrates how the coating speed can be doubled compared to that of a typical industrial facility by applying thinner coats. According to him, this technology offers impressive potential: it can not only increase production by a factor of ten, thereby reducing production costs considerably, but it also shortens charging times as thinner coats enable faster charging.
In addition, he says that batteries with solid-state electrolytes benefit the most from faster coating. Lithium batteries today contain liquid electrolytes as these have greater conductivity, but they are more flammable. The thinner coats can compensate for lower conductivity, making the battery not only more efficient and cost-effective, but also safer.
Baade will now look into how the high-speed coating process can be implemented in a real production facility. “Our next step is to test the scalability of the production process using a pilot facility. That’s why we are currently looking for suitable partners,” he says.
