Safe, sustainable, and high-throughput production of reliable lithium metal anodes for gen 4b/4c/5 batteries

Towards a dominant sustainable energy generation scenario in the EU, it is key to advance battery manufacturing industry to meet the large-scale demand in Europe, specifically SSBs Gen 4b/4c, and LSBs Gen 5. The deployment of high-throughput, sustainable production processes of LiM anodes must be developed and industrialised in the EU. STELLAR will commit to deploy a new sustainable, industrially competitive roll-to-roll physical vapour deposition production method of LiM anodes to deliver high-purity, dense, and stable LiM anodes with low thickness while targeting a high production capacity at a competitive cost, reaching TRL7 by demonstration of a real-word 1st of kind EU-based LiM anode production pilot line, together with validation of this new generation of anodes in functioning cells (Gen4b/4c/5). This will be achieved starting from a R2R vacuum coater already available at ABEE's (pre-STELLAR), by: 1) Optimising the R2R, thermal evaporation of LiM and in situ sputtering of a chemically-engineered thin protective coating in the same vacuum chamber for stable LiM anodes; 2) Upgrade of the production equipment; 3) Apply advanced, non-destructive, intelligent inline thickness and roughness monitoring; 4) High-precision laser based cutting of anodes; 5) Fully automated QC based on data science and ML; 6) Implementation of circular economy strategy for maximise scrap recovery and recycling rates at batteries EoL. Additionally, to ensure future seamless integration in the European market, a data-driven DT with quick response times for integral process optimisation will be developed, as well as the design at module/pack level of the LiM-based batteries. For that purpose, STELLAR is bringing together a wide experienced consortium led by ABEE, involving leading industrial technology developers and suppliers of batteries, materials and equipment, digital experts, academic institutions, and sustainability and management experts at European level.