Dry coating represents an innovative manufacturing process for battery electrodes that eliminates the use of solvents and noticeably reduces energy consumption compared to conventional wet coating. Energy-intensive drying steps as well as solvent recovery and disposal are no longer required, resulting in both environmental and economic benefits.
Within the research project “Process and Material Development of Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes for Large-Scale Dry Coating” (ProLiT), an industrialization concept for the dry coating of lithium-ion cathodes was developed. The approach combines material, process, and equipment development while addressing key aspects such as product quality, resource efficiency, and sustainability.
Scalable Dry Coating
The project successfully demonstrated that both LFP and NMC cathodes can be manufactured using PTFE-based and calender-gap-based dry coating processes. Despite the need for multi-stage densification steps, the results provide a robust foundation for scalable and competitive industrial implementation.
Energy Savings
Compared to wet coating, the developed dry coating process enables noticeably energy savings, making it a key enabler for sustainable and cost-efficient cell production.
Strong Partners from Research and Industry
Project partners include IBU-tec advanced materials AG, Daikin Chemicals, TU Braunschweig, IPAT Institute for Particle Technology, University of Münster, MEET, Maschinenfabrik Gustav Eirich, Coperion K-Tron, Matthews Engineering, CustomCells, and an OEM with cell manufacturing expertise.
Transferability to Gigafactories
The white paper outlines a plant concept designed for an annual capacity of 1 GWh. The insights gained are transferable to larger production environments, such as 10 GWh gigafactory-scale operations.
This Projects is funded by BMFTR.
Read more & download the Whitepaper.