Electrode Coatings

© Fraunhofer IPA

When manufacturing electrodes via wet-chemical processes the electrode slurry is coated via coating or printing methods onto a substrate material.

Within the technical centre “Flexible battery production” electrodes can be manufactured via slot die coating, screen printing, spraying, doctor blading and gravure printing. This includes adapting the existing production processes to the requirements of new electrode material systems.

To optimize energy storage systems, we evaluate new electrode material and realize specific electrode characteristics such as layer thickness and conductivity by adjusting the process parameters.

The coating methods include lab scale methods and a roll-to-roll pilot line and can be used to manufacture new electrodes under realistic conditions close to an industrial scale. The pilot line covers an adequate range of coating widths and geometries and can be used to flexible produce small series.

In electrode characterisation four-point measurements are used to determine the electrical resistance. The surface homogeneity and the layer thickness can be analysed across the complete coating width.

roll-to-roll pilot line for slot die coating with integrated IR/hot air drying unit