PräLi

PräLi – Prelithiation of electrodes

Funded by: BMBF

Contact person : Hans Fenske

Project overview::

The aim of the project consortium is to establish a fully continuous electrochemical process for the prelithiation of electrodes, in which prelithiation is achieved by the reduction of lithium-containing salts in a bath.
In addition, alternative pre-lithiation processes based on the use of metallic lithium as a source are (further) developed. Two production methods are considered, which can also be industrialized as a clocked, semicontinuous process in combination with cost-efficient mini-environments. On the one hand, an electrolytic process with a Li sacrificial electrode for the formation of the SEI is being investigated. On the other hand, a sacrificial layer is applied to the electrode surface using PVD.
All the processes described are evaluated in terms of cell performance and cost-effectiveness.

Objectives and tasks of the iPAT

• Production of continuous reference material electrodes and C/Si composite anodes as well as physical characterization of the produced electrodes
• Process engineering investigation and optimization of electrolytic prelithization using a Li sacrificial electrode with focus on the geometric alignment of the electrodes and the selection of optimised current and voltage profiles
• Electrochemical characterization of prelithified electrodes in pouch cells in comparison to reference systems without prelithiation
• Identification of upscaling measures for the further development of the method towards an industrially suitable continuous roll-to-roll process

 
Project partners

TU Braunschweig (Institute of Particle Technology (iPAT), Institute of Joining and Welding Technology (ifs)); MEET Battery Research Center Münster; Helmholtz Institute Münster (HI MS)