Establishing links between process parameters and product performance in the manufacture of battery electrode materials for automotive applications.

该项目适用于EPSRC储能和复杂流体和流变学的研究领域。可充电锂离子电池应用广泛。随着更多电动汽车的上路，对下一代电池的功率、能量和寿命提出了更高的要求。为了实现这些目标，需要更好地了解性能和材料之间的关系。伯明翰大学化学工程学院和华威大学WMG的这一合作项目将调查用于制造汽车电池的电池电极油墨的配方和混合如何影响其物理和化学性质。这一理解是至关重要的，因为油墨的纳米到微结构会在容量和寿命方面影响它们的涂层性能和电池的性能。电极油墨是含有多种成分的高固相分数悬浮液(&gt；40%wt)。各组分的混合和混合以形成最终的可涂覆浆料将是本项目的重点。模型电极油墨将使用低剪切和高剪切混合装置的组合进行设计和配方，并对其物理微结构进行评估。这些测量将与混合过程的流体动力学有关，从而建立结构-过程关系。该项目将涉及油墨的流变学测量以及使用包括显微镜和断层扫描在内的一系列分析方法来表征微观结构。WMG拥有英国领先的电池开发、放大和表征研究设施，位于能源创新中心(EIC)。这包括一个用于生产A5邮袋电池、涂层和电池的中试规模的设施。混合过程将在WMG执行和分析，使用最先进的用于袋电池制造的电极混合能力。在伯明翰大学，与伯明翰大学物理学院合作，利用伯明翰独特的正电子发射粒子跟踪(PEPT)技术，对模型透明流体的光流测量(粒子图像测速仪)以及对混合过程中实际油墨的测量相结合，将更详细地研究这些过程。

This project fits EPSRC research areas of Energy Storage and Complex Fluids and Rheology.Rechargeable Li-ion cells are used in a wide variety of applications. With the introduction of more electric vehicles onto the road, next generation batteries with greater demands in; power, energy and lifetime are required. In order to achieve these targets, a better understanding of the performance and materials relationships is required. This collaborative project between the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham and WMG at the University of Warwick will investigate how the formulation and mixing of battery electrode inks, which are used in the manufacture of automotive batteries, affects their physical and chemical properties. This understanding is critical, since the nano- to microstructure of the inks affects their coating properties and performance of the battery, in terms of capacity and longevity. The electrode inks are high solids fraction suspensions (>40% wt) containing multiple components. The mixing and blending of the components to form the final coatable slurry will be the focus of this project. Model electrode inks will be designed and formulated using combinations of low shear and high shear mixing devices and their physical microstructures evaluated. These measurements will be related to the hydrodynamics of the mixing processes enabling structure-process relationships to be developed.The project will involve rheological measurements of the inks as well as microstructural characterisation using a range of analytical methods included microscopy and tomography. WMG, has a UK-leading research facility for the development, scale-up and characterisation of cells, housed within the Energy Innovation Centre (EIC). This includes a facility for the manufacture of A5 pouch cells, coatings and cells at pilot scale. The mixing process will be performed and analysed at WMG, using the state of the art electrode mixing capability for pouch cell manufacture. At the University of Birmingham a combination of optical flow measurements on model transparent fluids (Particle Image Velocimetry) as well as measurements on the actual inks during mixing using Birmingham's unique Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) technique, in collaboration with the School of Physics at the University of Birmingham, will investigate these processes in more detail.