AIT is developing energy-dense batteries for electric aircraft

There are already some aircraft that fly with electrically operated propellers and batteries on board. Your biggest problem is that Batteries are heavy Regarding the amount of electricity they can store. This low Increased energy densityIt is also important to promote the electrification of road transport.

In European research project High rotation An attempt is currently being made to develop a battery worth 390 watt-hours per kilogram Come. Lithium-ion batteries currently in use have a value of about 200 Wh/kg. As energy density increases, electric vehicles and aircraft should have the same weight Get more Or the same range with smaller and Lighter batteries He achieves.

Cobalt is problematic

You want to achieve this through one New combination of materials In the battery, explains Bushidar Janiv, project manager from Austrian Institute of Technology. AIT is working with 12 partners from 8 European countries to develop a new type of battery that can be manufactured using well-known manufacturing processes and is particularly recyclable.

There is also an energy store Without cobalt Out of place. “This saves you the supply chain of an entire material,” says Janev. “Cobalt is also mined under very socially problematic conditions.”

Bridging the gap between solid-state batteries

The HighSpin battery will have an anode made of silicon and graphite, and a cathode made of lithium, nickel, manganese and Liquid electrolytes to receive. While research on solid-state batteries is intensely pursued around the world, a battery with a liquid conductive medium has an advantage Use proven manufacturing processes could.

Janev: “If you look to the future, solid-state batteries are on the horizon, but they require different manufacturing techniques. This means huge investments and lead times. Our battery could be a useful bridge.”

➤ Read more: New solid-state battery could mean an end to range anxiety

Cell chemistry is optimized in different directions depending on the application. Examples of test references include: b. a Small planesa a truck For city traffic (such as garbage collection), plus one Small electric car Fiat 500 was used.

Raw materials in the course

It is particularly important to the project partners that battery recycling is made as simple as possible. The goal is to obtain valuable raw materials such as Lithium, manganese, nickel, copper and aluminum At the end of battery life To be recycled as completely as possible. According to Ganev, mechanical, chemical and thermal processes are combined here. At HighSpin you also want to see how Reject material They are processed during production and returned to production.

“In principle, we want to develop technologies here that will be used in the future Used in European Giga factories After all, it takes a large supply chain for such factories, which produce batteries with a storage capacity of several gigawatt-hours each year. Huge amounts of materialThat must flow every hour.” The more materials available through recycling and processing that do not need to be dismantled first, the better.