Project

Overall Structure

Project activities

The overall idea of the project structure is oriented on the full life cycle of the battery: from the material selection and optimisation, over the cell and battery production, to the use phase, and finalised with the recycling of the battery. This is supported by advanced characterisation, modelling and simulation, as well as a full sustainability assessment.

Materials for Electrodes and Electrolytes: The core of ECO²LIB are lithium-ion batteries using silicon-based materials. These materials are assessed with regards to predefined characteristica and used for the further optimisation and development of the electrodes. In parallel, advanced electrolytes will be developed and integrated.

Model production and testing of Electrodes and Cells: In this activity, the previously selected and optimised materials will be used to produce the electrodes. Afterwards, a model production will be set up for the realisation and testing of the battery cells.

Requirements specification, prototyping and demonstration: Relevant use cases for the innovative battery will be identified and the requirements for the addressed applications will be assessed. Based on these requirements, battery modules for the use cases will be set up.

Recycling: Building on state-of-the-art industrial recycling processes, the ambition is to design and realise a new and more eco-friendly recycling approach for lithium-ion batteries with the highest recycling rate and lower costs.

Advanced Characterisation: By using advanced characterisation techniques, the properties of the battery components are assessed in order to improve performance and gain important insights and understanding for the development, upscaling, recycling and sustainability aspects of the battery.

Modelling and Simulation methodologies are used to improve safety and cycle life of the battery system. The activities are strongly interlinked with the advanced characterisation methods in order to realise the best possible battery life cycle modelling and simulation.

For the Sustainability Assessment of the ECO²LIB project, a systematic analysis of the environmental and economic aspects of the developed battery components and systems will be performed along the entire project duration.

Related projects

SINTBAT Silicon-based materials and new processing technologies for improved lithium-ion batteries for energy storage applications. Enabling a lifetime of 20-25 years with at least 10,000 cycles at significantly reduced CAPEX and OPEX. 

The LC-BAT-2 Cluster

ECO2LIB is one of three projects in the LC-BAT-2 cluster of the European Commission: Strengthening EU materials technologies for non-automotive battery storage.

 

The motivation and specific challenge of this cluster is the growing need to adjust to the changes in the energy grids driven by renewable energy sources. Overall, the energy production and supply will become more and more decentralised. This increases the challenges towards storing and deploying the produced energy. Batteries are the most promising solution for this challenge. Thus, Europe has to use its knowledge and competitive advantage in advanced materials and nanotechnologies to strengthen the related battery storage value chain and prepare European industry to be competitive in these new markets.

 

Within the LC-BAT-2 cluster, projects are thus expected to

  • Develop more price competitive, better performant and highly safe battery storage solutions, with improved lifetime;
  • Duly consider safety aspects depending on the application;
  • Consider sustainable materials and environmental-friendly production processes, possible second life applications, and materials that are easily available in Europe;
  • Demonstrate and test the new solution and respective output targets (such as cyclability, reliability, usage and lifetime) in a relevant industrial environment; and
  • Include a full life cycle assessment covering environmental and economic aspects.

Besides ECO2LIB, the following two projects also target the challenges of the LC-BAT-2 cluster:

CoFBAT

Advanced material solutions for safer and long-lasting high capacity Cobalt Free Batteries for stationary storage applications

NAIMA

Na Ion Materials as essential components to manufacture robust Battery Cells for non-automotive applications