Thu, 10 June, 2021
TWI experts Dr Jialin Tang, Chris Graham and Dr Alan Taylor were delighted to attend the recent quarter review meeting of the BattMan 3D project in collaboration with project partners Photocentric Ltd., Addionics Ltd and the University of Leicester.
The aim of this Innovate UK Smart Grant-funded project is to develop innovative new industrial 3D printers for the manufacture of battery cells designed for electric vehicles. The process will print entire battery cells with improved energy density, including electrodes with complex geometries, electrolyte and casing.
The manufacturing routine being developed in the project will be flexible to allow future battery technologies to be incorporated, and the process is expected to reduce the fabrication time by a factor of 10 with a significant reduction in the ultimate cost of the target 40kWh auto battery.
This additive manufacture method will also result in a very significant reduction of waste materials, further supporting the transition to sustainable materials and technologies in the drive towards electrification. The TWI team presented an update on their work on the development and characterisation of the electrode materials.
The BattMan3D Project has received funding from Innovate UK under No 52879