Safe and powerful solid-state batteries based on polymers and sulfides for electric cars, air taxis, mobile robots and co.
Solid-state batteries are an important building block for the electrification of mobility: They are safer and enable higher range and shorter charging times than conventional Li-Ion batteries. New cell concepts allow even higher energy densities. Fraunhofer IFAM is developing polymer and sulfide-based solid-state batteries for various electric mobility application areas. The research is oriented towards industrial battery production and ranges from development of new materials for solid electrolytes and battery components (electrodes and separators) to manufacturing process steps and cell assembly.
Advantages of solid-state batteries
The development of solid-state batteries based on lithium ion technology promises higher energy densities of up to 500 Wh/kg (or 1000 Wh/L), as well as fast-charge capability and intrinsic fire safety. This is achieved by replacing the flammable liquids (organic electrolytes) currently used in batteries with ion-conducting solid materials. Due to their chemical resistance, solid ion conductors allow the use of high-energy materials, such as metallic lithium, and also have a longer lifetime. Another advantage of batteries with solid electrolytes is the feasibility of new space- and weight-saving cell concepts. In addition to the construction of bipolar interconnected cells as a new cell design, the shape of the battery can also be freely selected. This opens up the possibility of using batteries not only as energy supply and passive structural components in mobile systems, but also of incorporating them directly as active structural elements (structural battery)