German mechanical and plant engineering firm Dürr Group has expanded its range of production technology for battery electrodes.
Following its acquisition of French mechanical engineering company Ingecal, Dürr can now supply calendaring systems for coating lithium-ion battery electrode foils. Additionally, Dürr has partnered with US-based LiCAP Technologies, which provides engineering in activated dry electrode technology.
Ingecal and LiCAP give Dürr electrode production expertise and allow it to offer wet and dry coating technology. Dry coating without harmful solvents uses 40% less energy and 20% less time, according to the company. This process offers considerable advantages in terms of costs, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions and can also be used for the production of future solid-state batteries.
Dürr will market LiCAP’s Activated Dry Electrode process, and the companies are discussing a dry coating line with a major battery cell manufacturer.
“We now also offer calendaring systems from a single source and, together, we can also target customers who rely on the dry process in the first step of electrode production,” said Dr. Jochen Weyrauch, CEO of Dürr.
From around 2030, 30 to 40% of battery electrodes manufactured in Europe and North America are expected to be produced using dry coating. That said, wet coating will also remain a relevant process. Its further development is currently aimed primarily at replacing the toxic NMP solvents (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) used today with solvents that are largely harmless.
For wet coating, Dürr offers coating technology, as well as systems for drying and solvent recovery. Dürr is already one of the world’s leading suppliers of solvent recovery systems. These will also be required in the future when using harmless solvent variants.
Filed Under: Technology News