CONDUCTOR Thin and lightweight current collector for lithium-ion battery

目前的锂离子电池技术使用的金属箔集电器（铜、铝）来自日本和中国的大型制造商;英国没有国内供应商，所有集电器都是进口的。现有的集电器体积庞大，占总电池重量的30%，降低了重量能量和功率密度。用复合聚合物导电薄膜（含有导电颗粒的聚合物基体）取代金属片以减轻重量是合乎逻辑的一步。我们合作项目CONDUCTOR的愿景是开发一种轻质、低成本的聚合物集流体，以取代锂离子电池（LIB）中使用的铝箔和铜箔集流体。这种电池是电池电动汽车（BEV）中最重和最昂贵的组件之一。我们估计，在一个典型的50公斤汽车电池组中，我们的聚合物集流体将节省约4公斤的重量，从而提高其充电和功率密度。鉴于英国没有锂离子电池集电器制造商，我们的目标是根据英国千兆工厂的增长，提供日益增长的锂离子电池集电器需求，以支持到2035年过渡到100%电池电动汽车制造。

Current lithium-ion battery technology uses metal foil current collectors (copper, aluminium) sourced from large manufacturers based in Japan and China; there are no domestic UK suppliers, and all current collectors are imported. Existing current collectors are bulky and account for up to 30% of the total battery weight, reducing the gravimetric energy and power density. Replacing the metal sheet with a composite polymer conductive thin-film (polymer matrix containing electrically conductive particles) to reduce weight is a logical step forward.The vision for our collaborative project CONDUCTOR is to develop a lightweight and low-cost polymer current collector to replace the aluminium and copper foil current collectors used in lithium-ion batteries (LIB). Such batteries are one of the heaviest and most expensive components in a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). We estimate our polymer current collector will save some 4kg weight in a typical 50Kg automotive battery pack thereby increasing its charge and power density. Given there are no UK manufacturers of LIB current collectors, our ambition is to supply the growing need for LIB current collectors in line with growth of the Giga Factories in the UK to support the transition to 100% battery electric vehicle manufacture by 2035\.