Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCVFlexiCutStack – Flexible Cutting and Stacking of Solid-State Battery Electrodes
Within the research project »FlexiCutStack«, an innovative concept for the automated assembly of solid-state batteries is developed. The focus lies on precise cutting and stacking of electrodes, which constitute central process steps for economically viable battery production.
A particular challenge arises in the cutting and handling of the various materials. Specifically, the lithium-metal anode imposes stringent requirements on cutting quality and the subsequent handling process due to its elastic and adhesive properties.
For this purpose, a flexible gripper system is developed that can be adapted to various materials and component geometries. Complementarily, a specifically designed punching tool is created that enables precise and process-reliable cutting of the components. The developed technologies are experimentally validated using various component geometries.
An essential process step is the assembly, which comprises the steps of cutting and stacking.
The following figure provides an overview of the process:
Process overview for »FlexiCutStack«
The project examines three essential process steps in solid-state battery production, namely electrode manufacturing, mechanical cutting, and the stacking process. Within the scope of electrode manufacturing, the polymer-based solid electrolyte separator as well as the composite cathode are produced using a roll-to-roll process. Together with the lithium-metal anode, three possible initial scenarios arise for the assembly process:
(a) assembly of three individual components,
(b) assembly of two components, and
(c) assembly of a single component
Independent of the initial scenario, a mechanical cutting process of the components to be processed is required. Subsequently, the handling of the individual components is carried out by means of a suitable gripping system in order to build up a precise layer stack of the solid-state battery. The objective of the overall process is process-reliable manufacturing of multilayer pouch cells.
