SOLiDIFY

The SOLiDIFY project proposes a unique manufacturing process and solid-electrolyte material to fabricate Lithium-metal solid-state batteries – known as Gen. 4b on the EU battery roadmap. The general strategy to reach the target in terms of energy density and fast charging is: (i) enabling the integration of high-energy NMC active materials and (ii) development of new electrode architectures for high mass loading and enabled by the liquid-to-solid approach. The main goal of SOLiDIFY is to bring the liquid-processed solid-state cell fabrication concept from demonstration in the lab (TRL3) to demonstration of prototypes in pilot line (TRL6), with upscaling of the concept both towards (i) the development of manufacturable materials and processes and (ii) the discovery of full cell assembly schemes with ultimate demonstration of 1Ah pouch cells. The material research focuses on solutions enabling the upscaling process and manufacturability, and further improvement of cell integration steps to enhance performance. Manufacturable parameters such cost, environmental impact and recycling are also handled. The larger scope of the SOLiDIFY project entails the development of a novel and potentially European-lead solid-state battery technology with fully covered EU value chain.

The SOLiDIFY consortium, led by IMEC, represents a healthy balance between SME, LE and non-profit organizations spreading the battery value chain over 7 different member states. This balanced mix of industrial and research partners specialized in specific and complementary areas enables both innovation opportunities and an optimal exploitation route.

Our role

Modelling: Gemmate Technologies contributes to increase the physics-based modelling and simulation capabilities for solid-state batteries. In particular, Gemmate Technologies develops a 3D multi-physics model of the battery cell based on the finite element approach. The model aims to simulate thermal, electrochemical and mechanical phenomena and can be used to assess and predict the performance of novel all-solid-state architectures.

Sustainability: Gemmate Technologies leads the environmental impact and sustainability assessment of the full battery life cycle taking into account the materials and processes investigated in the project upscaled at a hypothetical industrial production.

Results achieved

Modelling

The multiscale electro-chemo-mechanical modelling framework developed has the objective of describing the behaviour of laboratory-level cells and envisioning their application in a real-world scenario. Characterization provides the basis for modelling, while Gemmete Technologies focuses on developing a simulation protocol for reconstructing at the microscale level a representative 3D-resolved portion of a SOLiDIFY cell. This provides a consistent simulation framework for evaluating electrochemical cell performance and internal stress distribution through the development of a simplified and flexible internal cathodic structure model. However, physics-based battery models require substantial computational resources, limiting their suitability for many real-time applications. Data-based or reduced order models, like equivalent circuit models (ECM), can be used for numerous battery applications due to its rapid execution time, simplicity and relatively high accuracy. Therefore, the developed electrochemical model is also used to evaluate the parameters necessary to setup equivalent circuit modelling framework, consisting of equivalent electrical and thermal circuits able to recover the simulated cell behaviour. The final objective of the modelling activity is to develop a comprehensive simulation framework ranging from the microscale-level up to a hypothetical battery pack, serving as foundation for further cell development and to assess the applicability of the SOLiDIFY technology in real-world applications.

Sustainability

The aim of the workpackage led by Gemmate is to assess the validity of the SOLiDIFY solid-state Li metal cell concept including outlook into future manufacturing possibilities, cost of cell manufacturing and life cycle assessment including end of life scenarios. Such an assessment aims to provide an evaluation tool, as well as a guide for future technological improvements, allowing future competitiveness of the SOLiDIFY technology from the economic and environmental perspective. Specifically, Gemmate Technologies focuses on the environmental impacts related to a hypothetical industrial production and defines a recycling scenario for the SOLiDIFY cell starting from the state-of-the-art recycling processes adopted for commercial battery cells.

Scientific publications

A simplified 3D-resolved microstructure model for high-fidelity lithium-ion battery cell simulations, Journal of Power Sources 613 (2024) 234817. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.234817