Lithium-Ion Batteries

Mixing

When mixing the slurry for the electrodes of the cell, it is necessary to avoid the introduction of gas bubbles. With the help of vacuum, air pockets inside the slurry can be prevented/ inhibited and thus a homogeneous slurry can be produced.

Vacuum Drying

Drying the coated electrodes under vacuum guarantees minimum residual moisture. Afterwards the electrodes are prepared for the next production step, often in a dry and tempered room.

Electrolyte Filling

When filling the cell, the electrolyte is introduced via a high-precision dosing lance under vacuum. By applying a defined pressure profile by alternating evacuation and inert gas purge of the cell the capillary effect is activated which leads to homogeneous distribution of the electrolyte. By this optimized wetting process quality and lifetime of the cell is increased.

Formation

During formation of battery cells, a strong gas evolution occurs during the first charging process of the cell. Under a protective atmosphere in vacuum, the emitting gases will be extracted. Due to the toxicity and sometimes explosive risk nature of those gases, customer specific requirements on vacuum technology have to be taken into account.

End-of-Line test

At the end of production a battery cell has to fulfill the manufacturers quality level. Electrical safety, leak tightness, and also the ordered specifications of the end-customer are the main reasons to run end-of-line tests. High cycle times have to be met as the current and future demand in terms of quantity and quality needs 100% testing.

Battery cell housings

Battery cooling

Battery pack

Battery recycling

To enable the shift from conventional to electrical mobility the availability of resources has to be secured. Like for any other product recycling is a cost efficient and sustainable way to reduce the need for constant flow of freshly mined resources. New promising recycling methods can reach up to 91% recycling rate with utilization of processes under vacuum.