Through new collaborations totaling $6.2 million, ORNL will be partnering with industry to overcome challenges facing lithium-ion manufacturing. Partners include A123 Systems, Dow Kokam, Porous Power Technologies and Planar Energy. In each case, industry cost-share exceeds 50 percent of the total project cost.
“By leveraging our expertise in materials science and manufacturing, ORNL will assist these partners with their individual energy storage challenges and address opportunities to surpass non-domestic secondary battery manufacturers that dominate today’s market,” says ORNL’s Energy Materials Program director Craig Blue in an ORNL press release.
The research teams will focus efforts on safety, service life and cost reduction.
Secondary Li-ion cell manufacturing encompasses a broad range of disciplines including formulation chemistry, film casting, polymer processing, materials and composite design, interfacial science and component engineering.
According to ORNL’s David Wood, co-principal investigator and technical lead on the project, collaborative research is expected to take place during the next 18 months. Wood adds, “This is a unique and timely opportunity for ORNL to help government and industry set the course for a new generation of energy storage technologies.”