![]() Demonstrators, which proved to be very efficient, have already shown that the invention is practical. Further developmentīatene GmbH, which was founded in early 2022, has now exclusively licensed the corresponding rights to develop and market the technologies. Since the use of ultrafine metal mesh electrodes is not limited to the lithium-ion batteries already established today, the founders and investors of Batene GmbH believe that there is also great potential for future generations of rechargeable batteries, such as the lithium metal solid-state batteries or the sodium-ion batteries currently under development. In addition, the metal mesh reduces the electrical resistance of the electrodes and increases their mechanical stability, making the batteries safer. Since the metal meshes have a significantly larger surface area compared to conventional current collectors, batteries with such current collectors can be charged and discharged much faster. The new design of the battery developed at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research reduces the metal content to one tenth and increases the active material proportion of the total battery weight to over 90 percent. As a result, the active material, which is important for energy storage, currently accounts for only about 60 percent of the weight. Thicker cells drastically reduce the amount of inactive material used in the battery. Such electrodes make it possible to increase the thickness of battery cells to more than two millimeters, ten times that of cells commonly used today. ![]() The metallic fibers, which have very good electrical conductivity, are processed into a dense, conductive metal mesh and filled with the respective active material of the anode or cathode. The core element of the new development is a process developed by Joachim Spatz, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, with which very fine metallic fibers can be produced. Metallic fibers allow for thicker battery cells The inventions brought forth by the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research offer a surprisingly simple solution to this problem. Therefore, the individual cells must be very thin and stacked using a large amount of material. However, this only works well in layers less than 0.2 millimeters thick. During the battery’s storage and discharge process, the lithium ions move from one electrode to the other and thus ensure the desired flow of electrons, in other words, the current. Usually, an aluminum foil is used at the cathode and a copper foil at the anode. These active materials are applied to a highly conductive current collector. This consists, for example, of various lithium compounds and stores the energy. Two electrodes (cathode and anode), separated by a separator, contain the so-called active material. It is precisely this protection of the climate and environment that played just as important a role in our considerations as economic factors."īatteries are built from a large number of cells, each of which is constructed identically. ![]() "All of this helps society in the transformation away from fossil fuels to a CO2-free economy. In addition, natural resources are conserved through significantly reduced material consumption and an extremely energy-saving manufacturing process," says Martin Möller, the managing director of Batene GmbH. The metallic nonwovens meet the demand for lighter batteries with high energy density, faster charging rates, prolonged battery runtimes and a longer lifespan. "The new approach enables the production of a new generation of rechargeable batteries. They could become even more suitable for this in the future, made possible by technology that Batene is now developing to market maturity. And they make it possible to power vehicles in a climate-friendly way. Batteries are a key technology for the energy revolution: They can store electrical energy from renewable sources for times when photovoltaics and wind power do not supply electricity.
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