For some decades now, VON ARDENNE has been a leading company in industrial large-area coating using innovative PVD methods. Based on this expertise in the deposition of extremely thin layers, the German high-tech company has identified different approaches along the production chain of lithium-ion batteries to considerably improve their performance and cost-efficiency by functionalizing cell component surfaces.

With ENHANCED BATTERY SOLUTIONS GmbH (EBSL), VON ARDENNE has founded an innovative startup company that focuses on the development of these new technologies and approaches for the lithium-ion battery market.

EBSL is presenting its new technologies at the Battery Show Europe 2019 in Stuttgart from 7 May to 9 May 2019 at booth G357.

These technologies enable solutions that address current challenges for lithium-ion batteries. In the face of the increasing demand, for instance in the automotive industry, requirements such as output, high energy density, longevity and fast-charging capacity are getting increasingly important.

At the same time, EBSL is tackling the challenges that occur when new cell systems and innovative electrode manufacturing processes shall be established. Here, PVD thin-film technologies offer cell manufacturers a high potential for a cost-efficient, sustainable production that helps save resources.

One of these technologies is XPRIME – an ultra-thin (<100 nm) and dense coating on aluminum or copper current collectors. This coating increases both the power density and the lifetime of the latest lithium-ion batteries. That is achieved by drastically increasing the conductivity of the current collector and, thereby, reducing the through-plane resistance between the current collector and the electrode coating.

Furthermore, the XPRIME coating enables a passivation of the current collector and

• an increases electro-chemical stability against corrosive media and at higher voltage windows
• stabilization of the current collectors so that they can be used in innovative cell concepts (high-voltage or all-solid-state batteries) and the processing using alternative production methods (water-based electrode manufacturing)

Beyond that, as a member of the VON ARDENNE group, EBSL offers the corresponding equipment for the coating of current collectors in R&D, pilot production or production scale.