ExpectedOutcome:
Building on the results of earlier research projects on advanced solid-state materials, the objective of this topic is to demonstrate, at cell level, the scale-up of advanced solid-state materials for anodes, cathodes, electrolytes and, where applicable, separators with performances and costs compatible for mobility markets.
Projects are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:
- The selection of solid-state cell components and architecture (anode; electrolyte, cathode, collector, and interfaces) meeting, by the end of the project, all performance indicators at ambient and operational temperatures necessary for mobility, as following:
- Safety: with a technology compatible with the level 4 EUCAR at module/pack level for automotive (level 2 for aviation and waterborne applications).
- Gravimetric and volumetric energy density: > 400Wh/kg and 1000Wh/l.
- Cycling: up to 3000 cycles at 50% DoD (Depth of Discharge) with a minimum of 500 cycles at 80% DoD.
- C Rate at charge up to 5 C at 80% SoC (state of charge), or whichever C-rate / SOC combination that would allow < 20mn full capacity recovery; for aviation applications, up to 10C.
- Materials and cells design with mechanical properties and constraints that enable large scale production processes at a competitive cost, especially in terms of pressure conditions at cell and module level.
- Atmospheric conditions in factories.
- A demonstration of the selected materials in a State-of-Art benchmark cell (at least TRL5) with at least 1 Ah capacity.
- A competitive cost level towards 75€/kWh at pack level by 2030.
- An optimised environmental footprint of cell materials in terms of carbon footprint and quantity of metals.
- Cell manufacturing processes which allow the fabrication of performant, reliable, sustainable, and affordable solid-state cells, demonstrated at industrial pilot level.
- Cell materials and designs which are compatible with a recycling process that respects the requirements as put forward in the proposed Batteries Regulation[1].
Scope:
Proposals are expected to cover all the following points:
- Develop or leverage the materials-specific models and digital tools for material and cell design to identify the best combinations of materials and speed up the cell optimisation process.
- Ensure high ionic conductivity (> 0.5mS/cm2) and stability of the solid electrolyte.
- Integrate high voltage cathode (> 4V) to reach the KPIs for mobility as listed in the Expected Outcomes section.
- Propose and evaluate interfaces and coating solutions especially to suppress dendrite growth and enable a stable solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) and cathode-electrolyte interphase (CEI).
- Optimise the cell design with respect to all the cell components to meet high energy density objectives.
- Anode current collectors and/or solid electrolyte capable of accommodating volume changes upon charge/discharge.
- Demonstrate the potential for scale up of materials, cells and sustainable industrial processing methods with cells reaching a capacity of several Ah, produced in a statistical meaningful number to demonstrate the process repeatability.
- Project publications should adhere to the guidelines for publication of research results, as laid out by the "Batteries Europe - Reporting Methodologies" report, subject to the need to maintain confidentiality for future commercial exploitation.
Plans for the exploitation and dissemination of results for proposals submitted under this topic should include a strong business case and sound exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination. The exploitation plans should include preliminary plans for scalability, commercialisation, and deployment (feasibility study, business plan) indicating the possible funding sources to be potentially used (in particular the Innovation Fund).
Projects should link to ongoing Horizon Europe calls, especially HORIZON-CL5-2021-D2-01-03: Advanced high-performance Generation 4a, 4b (solid-state) Li-ion batteries supporting electro mobility and other applications and HORIZON_CL5-2021-D1-01-05 (Manufacturing technology development for solid-state batteries (SSB, Generations 4a - 4b batteries). Projects should also take stock of the outcomes of the projects under call LC-BAT-1-2019 (Strongly improved, highly performant ad safe all-solid-state batteries for electric vehicles).
This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on Batteries (Batt4EU). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on the results to the European Partnership on Batteries (Batt4EU) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.
Specific Topic Conditions:
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
[1]COM(2020) 798 final, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning batteries and waste batteries, repealing Directive 2006/66/EC and amending Regulation (EU) No 2019/1020
