2016 AIChE Annual Meeting: Energy and Transport Processes

Corie Cobb, presenter

 

The development of mass markets for large-format batteries, including electric vehicles (EVs) and grid support, depends on both cost reductions and performance enhancements to improve their economic viability. Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) has developed a multi-material, advanced manufacturing process called co-extrusion (CoEx) to remove multiple steps in a conventional battery coating process with the potential to simultaneously increase battery energy and power density. CoEx can revolutionize battery manufacturing across most chemistries, significantly lowering end-product cost and shifting the underlying economics to make EVs and other battery applications a reality.

 

PARC’s scale-up of CoEx for electric vehicle (EV) batteries builds on a solid base of experience in applying CoEx to solar cell manufacturing, deposition of viscous ceramic pastes, and Li-ion battery  chemistries. In the solar application, CoEx has been deployed commercially at production scale where multi-channel CoEx printheads are used to print viscous silver gridline pastes at full production speeds (>40 ft/min). This operational scale-up provided invaluable experience with the nuances of speed, yield, and maintenance inherent in taking a new technology to the factory floor. PARC has leveraged this experience, adapting the CoEx process for Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery manufacturing. To date, PARC has worked with Li-ion battery materials and structured cathodes with high-density Li-ion regions and low-density conduction regions, documenting both energy and power performance. Modeling results for a CoEx cathode show a path towards a 10-20% improvement in capacity for an EV pouch cell. Experimentally, we have realized a co-extruded battery structure with a Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cathode at print speeds equivalent to conventional roll coating processes. The heterogeneous CoEx cathode enables improved capacity in thick electrodes at higher C-rates. The proof-of-principle coin cells demonstrate the feasibility of the CoEx technology and a path towards higher energy and higher power EV pouch cells.

November 14, 2016, 3:15-5:45pm:
Session 201: Battery and Energy Storage Technologies

Corie Cobb, session co-chair

These sessions on ‘Redox Flow Battery Technologies for Energy Storage’ are open to including papers on research, development, and/or deployment related to improving flow battery performance. A redox flow battery is a rechargeable device, whereby a special electrolyte material facilitates ion flow across it, energy is stored in ionized chemical fluids, and there is a controlled release or absorption of electrons to either generate or store an electric current. Papers of particular interest include those relating to using these redox flow batteries within hybrid energy systems and for mitigating the intermittency of renewables.

November 15, 2016, 8:30-11:00am:
Session 312: Rechargeable / Secondary Battery Technologies for Energy Storage

Corie Cobb, session co-chair

These sessions on ‘Rechargeable / Secondary Battery Technologies for Energy Storage’ are open to including papers on research, development, and/or deployment related to improving rechargeable battery performance. A rechargeable battery (also referred to as a secondary cell, storage battery, and/or accumulator) can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times. Papers of particular interest include those relating to using rechargeable batteries within hybrid energy systems and for mitigating the intermittency of renewables.