The hydrogen and
fuel cell center
ZBT GmbH

Contact

Dipl.-Ing. Bernd Oberschachtsiek

technical operations manager ZBT &
Commissary Head of

Department Electrolysis

phone: +49 203 7598-4280
b.oberschachtsiek(at)zbt.de
online form

Lithium-ion batteries

In general, electrodes for lithium-ion batteries are composed of a metallic substrate, an electrochemically active material (e. g. graphite or silicon composites for the anode as well as lithium metal oxides or lithium metal phosphates for the cathode), conductive additives to support the electron transport and a polymer to ensure the adhesion of the particles among each other as well as to the current collector.

A wet chemical process is necessary to apply the above mentioned materials on the metallic substrates. For this purpose, the particles are dispersed in a suitable solvent. Subsequently, the resulting slurry is applied on corresponding substrates by means of different coating processes.

ZBT deals intensely with the choice of materials, tailoring of the electrode com­po­sition, the dispersion of the components and the coating process to realise electrodes with a high power and energy density.

ZBT has different potentiostates, battery test systems and temperature chambers for the electrochemical characterisation of the battery electrodes as well as devices for the physical characterisation of the slurries and electrodes available.

Functional principle of a lithium-ion battery (discharge)
Wet film of a cathode, cast on aluminium

Field of work and services

  • Benchmarking of battery materials
  • Development of electrodes using different materials and dispersion as well as coating processes
  • Investigation of the rheology of battery slurries
  • Analysis of the structure of electrodes by mercury porosimetry and imaging methods
  • Electrochemical characterization using different test cells

    • Cyclic voltammetry
    • Electrochemical titration techniques
    • Impedance spectroscopy
    • Charge discharge experiments

Last update:  07.09.2023