The Bat-Lab infrastructure at SINTEF Industry covers the value chain of battery manufacturing from materials synthesis to pouch cell assembly, including electrochemical characterization and long-term testing.

Wet chemistry laboratories, high temperature synthesis facilities, flame spray pyrolysis, and hydrothermal autoclaves are available for lab/batch-scale materials synthesis. Furthermore, access to Argon glove boxes and facilities for electrode fabrication and cell assembly, such as thinky mixers, tape casting, electrode calendaring or spray coating, can be granted.

The Bat-Lab at SINTEF Industry also includes a mini-assembly line for multilayer pouch cells with a maximum capacity of 600-800 mAh, 50*50mm.

The testing facility consists of approximately 140 battery test channels (soon to be more than doubled), including AC impedance (EIS) modules, and temperature- and humidity-controlled testing chambers. Table 1 shows an overview of the battery cyclers and potentiostats currently available at SINTEF Industry.

Besides testing capabilities, our battery lab is equipped with state-of-the-art ink blending facilities such as overhead blenders, ball mills, high speed mixers and a centrifugal vacuum mixer. We also host rheometers (Anton-Paar) for slurry and ink analysis. In addition, we have advanced test cells for electrolyte studies by RHD Instruments, as well as an Ofelia test cell, Figure 2, to analyse thickness changes of solid-state electrolytes or electrode materials in operando (electrochemical dilatometer, T control -40 °C to 100 °C). The electrochemical characterization facility consists of several potentiostats/galvanostats for AC testing, chronoamperometry, linear sweep and cyclic voltammetry.

Services currently offered by the infrastructure:

SINTEF offers a complete battery assessment from fundamental materials science investigation (electrochemical and physical-chemical characterization) to full cell development and optimization (battery testing and modelling, lifetime prediction). We have expertise in:

• Battery materials development and characterization

  • Cathode, anode, electrolyte, and separator

  • Electrochemical characterization and modelling

  • Physical-chemical characterization

• Cell development and characterization

  • Battery cell assembly (coin, pouch, and 3-electrode cells)

  • Cell testing (cylindrical, pouch, and prismatic) and lifetime prediction

  • Post-mortem analysis

SINTEF also holds competence relating to raw materials required for battery cell production, optimization of production technology, including automation and digitization, as well as recycling and reuse after end of battery life. We have a broad portfolio of battery projects and activities which range from fundamental and multi-scale modelling to advanced structural and electrochemical characterization and development of novel materials for next-generation Li-ion batteries (Generations 3a-3b and 4). Our research interests also include the development post-Li, metal air, multivalent ion batteries (SEAMAG project).

SINTEF coordinates the EU Horizon 2020 funded project HYDRA which focuses on the development of Generation 3b Li-ion batteries, combining high-capacity anode materials with high-voltage cathode materials. Furthermore, we are a partner in BATTERY 2030+, and in the project BIG-MAP, leading the development of the Battery Interface Ontology and supporting the investigation of new materials with advanced atomistic simulations.

Services & infrastructure in the delivery and installation phase:

In August 2022 Sintef Industry has a planned launch of a 140m2 Dry room with a dew point of -40 °C. In this space will be located a semi-automatic pouch cell assembly line, a pilot line coater with a 2-meter-long drying oven, 40ton hot calender, and conventional mixing equipment from leading European suppliers. Accompanying the new Dry room will be lab space that will house a coater, battery cyclers (6V 30A/60A), formation equipment, test chambers, gloveboxes, rheometer, electrode characterization equipment, twin screw-extruder, and wet lab space.

The primary cell size produced in the new lab will be a 195*78mm pouch cell.

Services to be offered from January 2023 will include:

• Slurry Rheology development.

• Double sided coating of electrodes.

• Cell assembly and development.

• Cell components validation and testing

• Cyclic aging

• Calender aging