Lithium-ion batteries

State-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries are well-established energy storage systems with high performance and high safety. But to develop large-scale solid state batteries with, in fact, a volumetric energy density twice as high as in today’s Li-ion batteries includes several challenging tasks:

  • Using non-flammable materials
  • Avoiding the formation of insulating layers for more safety
  • Achieving higher thermal, chemical, electrochemical and mechanical stability

Our current work

The Center is working on novel components for safer high-performing lithium battery cells. This includes new materials and innovative processes for:

  • Electrolytes
  • Additives
  • Separators
  • Salts
  • Binders (combination of electrode and/or ceramic electrolyte)

The Center develops materials and components for lithium-ion battery with advantages over other systems.

  • Modified electrodes (thin film or core-shell coating) with improved life span, higher cycle stability and smaller resistance
  • Specially designed electrolytes that serve as binders and separators and, therefore, simplify the production and reduce costs
  • In particular, Fraunhofer ISC develops hybrid polymers (ORMOCER®s):
    • Adjustable properties like flexibility or transparency
    • Protection layers for electrodes (e.g. core-shell form) to prevent flammability and degradation of materials
    • Processing to thin membranes
    • Surface modulation
    • High temperature stability
    • Large voltage window (0-5 V)

Services for our customers

For high-energy lithium batteries the Center offers:

  • Low cost material syntheses
  • Improvement of surface and interface design
  • Development of adjustable materials to optimize the volume weight ratio being important for the energy density
  • Development of high energy lithium batteries with more efficiency due to more active materials and less inactive materials
  • Pretreatment and screening of materials, e.g. lithium metal, separators, electrolytes
  • Alternative processing methods
  • Optimal adjustment of the cell components for improved chemical stability
  • Extensive stability and charging tests to prognose the battery performance