Fachvortrag

Batteries are an essential part of modern life. They power everything from mobile electronic devices to electric vehicles and renewable energy systems. To meet future demand for sustainable and efficient solutions, battery performance, durability and, in particular, costs must be improved. Extrusion can produce complex geometries, precise dimensions and consistent quality. All of these are critical factors in the production of high-performance batteries.
COLLIN has built its first electrode coating line in 1999. Since then, we have improved our machines in many ways to deliver a complete solution to produce electrodes with less or even no solvent. The mixing of the electrode material can be performed by continuous compounding of the base ingredients in a twin-screw extruder. Due to high shearing and individual screw design a good dispersion of the active material within the binder is possible. This electrode material can then be applied via extrusion coating onto the metal foil. Since extrusion can work with much higher viscosities than slot die coating the amount of solvent can be reduced dramatically. To produce a homogeneous thickness profile the die design plays an important role to create a well-defined mass-flow at the die gap. Years of experience in combination with modern simulation tools ensure good results. To further optimize the electrode’s inner structure and thickness tolerance one or more calendering steps can be performed. A drying and therefore a solvent recovery is not necessary in this electrode coating process.