Swiss battery technology pioneers, Battrion collaborate with Jagenberg to supply their Aligned Graphite® Technology for the production of EV cells.
Battery technology pioneer Battrion AG, who is a spin off company from the Swiss University ETH Zurich, has teamed up with German production specialist Jagenberg Converting Solution GmbH. The two companies intend to supply anode pilot and GWh-production lines utilising Battrion’s Aligned Graphite® Technology for the lithium-ion battery Industry. The Aligned Graphite® Technology improves the performance of the negative electrode in a lithium-ion battery and enables fast-charging of batteries, setting industry standards for graphite technology for EV cells.
Battrion was founded in 2015. The company operates a research lab and production facility in Dübendorf, Switzerland, where it develops its Aligned Graphite® technology, a fabrication technology for lithium-ion batteries that improve the microstructure of negative electrodes. The technology significantly increases the charge- and discharge performance of lithium-ion batteries and is particularly suited for EV and high-power applications. The technology is compatible with mixed silicon/graphite materials.
Jagenberg AG, part of the Kleinewefers Group and headquartered in Krefeld, Germany, is a strategic management holding company that currently employs around 1,300 people in its 23 operating affiliates in the Industrial Solutions sector in Europe, Asia, and the USA. The Jagenberg Group is focused on the Industrial Solutions division, whose core business areas relate to machines and systems, automation and control technology, and digital solutions for processing web-shaped materials such as films or paper.
Demand for improved GWh-production technologies
Jagenberg’s electrode coating lines, that are equipped with Aligned Graphite® Technology, allow the production of extremely low resistance negative electrodes with controlled graphite particle orientation. These electrodes are a drop-in replacement for next-generation, fast-charging lithium-ion batteries. The Aligned Graphite® production lines can be distributed as turnkey equipment that are fully integrated into the state-of-the-art GWh-battery production environment.
The mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), through the clean energy transition, has led to a huge demand for low-cost, high-performance lithium-ion batteries. Cell manufacturers are obliged to scale up quickly to meet production requirements and leverage economies of scale. In parallel, their customers and EV manufacturers require significantly faster-charging cells. This drives the demand for improvement both in battery technology as well as production capabilities, all while ensuring full compatibility with the established GWh-production standards and supply chains.
Graphite technology for EV cells
By improving the microstructure of negative electrodes, the Aligned Graphite® Technology can reduce the charging time of lithium-ion batteries by up 50%. Innovative technologies for processing web-shaped materials has been at the forefront of Jagenberg Group’s focus.
Now, the two companies have teamed up to supply anode pilot lines and full electrode production lines with Aligned Graphite® Technology to produce negative electrodes with ultra-low resistance for fast-charging applications.
