Newsletter #2 / March 2023

Summer is approaching really fast, and many exciting developments are happening in SUBLIME. We thank everyone for their participation and active support on our dissemination channels in 2022 and hope for your continued backing during an equally successful year 2023.

A lot has happened since our last newsletter and exciting developments are currently ongoing for the realization of sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries.

Deliverables

D3.5 Report on delivery of optimized cathode for Primary pathway
The cathode active material determines the maximum specific charge and discharge potential of the cell and is thus the main target for enhancing the energy output of solid-state batteries.

In SUBLIME, optimization of the cathode active material was one of the major research activities in the project, and our partners from Umicore took the lead in this activity. In D3.5, the main achievements so far are reported, and the first generation of the developed material is characterized. Mono-crystalline Ni-rich NMC powders with a protective surface coating have been selected and optimized to match the requirements of the sulfide electrolyte. This first generation of the new active material was then shipped to our partners who will further process it to electrodes for integration into the SUBLIME battery cells. Further optimization is ongoing and will focus on different surface coatings to obtain even higher performance.

Figure 1, SEM image of the first generation of the active material.

D3.4 - Report on the protective strategies on Lithium metal

Li metal electrodes are considered to be the next step towards high-energy lithium batteries. However, the inherent risk of internally shorting the cell by formation of needle-like Li dendrites, which grow through the electrolyte layer, is still inhibiting this development.

Deliverable D3.4 addresses this issue, focusing on the development of solutions to prevent the formation of lithium dendrites and thereby resolve the prevailing safety issues.

Three promising routes were explored, i.e. organic coating layers, inorganic coating layers from atomic layer deposition, and inorganic coating layers from thermal evaporation. Key parameters for the coating layers as well as application procedures could be identified. Strategies to resolve prevailing difficulties in coating layers for Li metal electrodes, such as surface impurities and low mechanical stability of Li, were elaborated and will be applied for the final SUBLIME all-solid-state battery cells..

Figure 2, Galvanostatic stripping/ plating cycles of symmetric Li|sulfide electrolyte|Li cells with surface protection.

D6.3 - Report on possible recycling path including a flow sheet and mass balance calculation

In parallel to the development of the sulfide-based all-solid-state battery cells, SUBLIME also aims at finding proper solutions for their recycling to enable a circular battery industry right from the start. The sulfide-electrolyte poses specific challenges to the recovery process, and thus, already established procedures cannot be readily adopted from conventional lithium-ion battery recycling.

The public deliverable D6.3 was recently completed, led by our partners from MIMI Tech. In the report, the importance of reclaiming Li metal from all-solid-state batteries is discussed and the probability of using recovered phosphorous from battery cells to recondition fertilizers are considered. These are only a few of the highlights found in this deliverable. You can read through all of this insightful report on our website

Figure 3, schematic of possible recycling routes for sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries

Milestones

One milestone, i.e. recycling path defined, was reached during submission of D6.3.
By now, a total of five milestones have been completed.

Upcoming milestones include
– assembly of pouch cells (up to 40 mAh);

– the delivery of materials at kg scale.

Major results so far

Manufacturing of mono-layer pouch cells at lab scale
The available literature on sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries usually reports on the performance of pressed powder electrodes, which employ thick electrolyte layers of more than 1000 µm and impractical manufacturing procedures that are unlikely to be adopted by the industry. In order to reach high energy densities, thinner electrolyte layers are necessary. Furthermore, currently established manufacturing technologies should be employed for the preparation of battery cells to enable ready adoption of this new cell chemistry by battery manufacturers.

SUBLIME heads towards this goal with the production of the first mono-layer pouch cells, which is led by our team at Fraunhofer IST/TU Braunschweig. Bilayer assemblies of composite cathode and electrolyte layers are prepared via extrusion processes and combined with a Li-In anode. The cells are currently being tested and evaluated in terms of their electrochemical performance.

Figure 4, manufacturing and assembly of mono-layer pouch cells.

Conferences & Events

During the last quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, SUBLIME was presented at several conferences, workshops, and events.

SUBLIME @ International Battery Production Conference 2022

Artur TRON (AIT) gave a presentation at the IBPC2022, held in Braunschweig (Germany) from 7th to 8th of November 2022, where he discussed the results on composite cathode optimization:

– Rational optimization of cathode/electrolyte bilayer assemblies for all-solid-state batteries (Artur TRON/ AIT; oral)

SUBLIME @ Battery Modeling and Advanced Numerical Simulations 2022

The “BATMAN” workshop took place from 14th to 18th of November 2022 in Copenhagen (Denmark). The data and results reported in the #openaccess publication Molecular-Level Insight into the Interfacial Reactivity and Ionic Conductivity of a Li-Argyrodite Li6PS5Cl Solid Electrolyte at Bare and Coated Li-Metal Anodes and Enhancing first-principles simulations of complex solid-state ion conductors using topological analysis of procrystal electron density were discussed and presented by our colleague from CICe, Javier CARRASCO.

– Destiny Training School Workshop (Javier CARRASCO / CICe; presenter)

Figure 5, presentations held since the last newsletter at IBPC2022 and BATMAN workshop

Furthermore, SUBLIME was presented at the Transport Research Area 2022 and the RTR Conference 2023 along with other EU- backed projects.

The TRA 2022 took place from 14th to 17th of November 2022 in Lisbon (Portugal). The newest innovations and the future of mobility and transport were discussed. SUBLIME was presented as part of the LC-BAT-1 research and innovation cluster. An Invited Session on batteries was organized and held together with the LC-BAT-5 and LC-BAT-10 (Collabat) research and innovation clusters.

SUBLIME’s coordinator from FEV, Jens EWALD, presented recent project results at the RTR conference 2023 in Brussels (14th to 16th of Feb), which focuses on the achievement of EU-funded projects in road transport.

Figure 6, SUBLIME represented at TRA2022 (left) and RTR Conference 2023 (right)

Upcoming Events

It is going to be an exciting summer 2023 and we look forward to meeting our colleagues and supporters around the world at some of the long-awaited upcoming events.

Watch out for Symposium 9: Ceramics for energy production and storage, chemistry and environment during ECerS 2023 in Lyon (France), taking place from 2nd to 6th July 2023. Alexander BEUTL (AIT) will have an oral presentation, discussing the importance of binder-solvent interactions during wet chemical processing of sulfide electrolytes and novel manufacturing possibilities for thin electrolyte films thus enabled.

Exciting new insights about critical current densities of sulfide-based solid electrolyte under ambient conditions will be presented by Artur TRON (AIT) at the European Conference on Solid State Chemistry 2023 in the Czech Republic, taking place from 9th to 12th of July 2023.

The 7th General Assembly Meeting will be held in Brussels from the 19th to 20th of April under the patronage of our colleagues from ABEE. Current results and upcoming tasks will be discussed and new strategies towards our goals will be developed.

Publications

Rational Optimization of Cathode Composites for Sulfide-Based All-Solid-State Batteries, Nanomaterials, 13, 327 (2023) – Editor’s choice awarded
Tron, A., Hamid, R., Zhang, N., Beutl, A.

https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13020327

Meet the TEAM

The Meet the TEAM section on the project homepage has been updated, featuring now our colleagues from FEV and CICe. Find out about their role in the project and what it means for them to work in the field of battery science.