Whitepaper, industry news and the latest Porocarb^® highlights

High-power battery applications face the challenge of low energy output and unsatisfying thermal behavior, e.g. due to temperature cut-off at high power. Learn in our case studies how high-performance carbon additive Porocarb® can solve these challenges:

• How Porocarb^® improves the heat dissipation (NMC)
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• How Porocarb^® improves the heat dissipation and prolongs life time of batteries (LFP)
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Trondheim, Norway - May 2023

Curious about the progressive advancements in Zinc-Air battery technology? Explore our exciting European Project ZABAT titled “Next Generation Rechargeable and Sustainable Zinc-Air Batteries”.

This project, helmed by Leitat and generously funded by the European Union, benefits from the diverse expertise of five European entities. Among these, technical centers, esteemed universities, and industry leaders like Heraeus Battery Technology GmbH graciously lend their knowledge and support.

At the heart of our project lies the development of porous carbon materials, possessing immense potential to revolutionize the Zinc-Air battery landscape. Their role in enhancing battery performance promises unrivaled solutions for existing technical difficulties. September of the previous year marked the commencement of this promising endeavor.

Recently, our team gathered for a productive meet at SINTEF in Trondheim, Norway, where we engaged in fruitful discussions around:

• Utilizing tailor-made synthetic porous carbon (Porocarb) for 3D printing ink applications.
• Deeply understanding the material characteristics of Porocarb designed for Zinc-Air battery cathodes.
• Surveying potential avenues for the application of macroporous Porocarb as substrates to incorporate nanocatalysts.

For continuous updates on our project's progress, visit the  LinkedIn page

München, Germany - June 2023

Watch the video: Dr. Juhan Lee presenting at the InterBattery Europe 2023

How can Porocarb® improve the battery performance? - That was the topic Dr. Juhan Lee spoke about at the InterBattery Europe 2023 in Munich. Learn more about the many advantages of Porocarb and how it can help you to get the best out of your battery.

 Click here and watch the video for free

Shenzhen , China - May 2023

We are proud to have participated and presented at the CIBF in China, the world’s largest battery trade fair with more than 360.000 visitors. Here are some key insights from our experience at the fair:

Our key take aways are:

• The CIBF highlighted the strong momentum in the battery industry and provided a glimpse into the latest trends and innovations in battery technology.
• We observed an increased presence of sodium ion batteries (SIB) and solid-state batteries at the fair. These new types of batteries promise higher energy density and lower cost than traditional lithium ion batteries and are expected to play a major role in the future of the battery industry.
• There was a significant focus on auxiliary and quality/sensing equipment for battery production. This indicates that battery manufacturers are increasingly focusing on the overall quality and efficiency of their production processes.
• Prominent at the fair were next generation battery materials, both active and supporting, such as carbon additives. These materials promise to enhance the performance and longevity of batteries.

 Click here to download the presentation and learn more about our appearance at the CIBF.

Tegernsee, Germany - March 2023

How to overcome the challenges for thick electrodes for high volumetric energy density batteries? Our Head of Innovation Dr. Moritz Hantel elaborated this topic together with other experts from industry and academia in a two-day summit.

Our key take aways are:

• Volumetric energy density for consumer electronics is targeted to increase by 10% to reach more than 800 Wh/l
• Increasing the electrode thickness is the most promising approach to further enlarge the volumetric energy density
• Tuning the porosity of the electrodes is becoming more important to prevent Li ion depletion effects during charging / discharging
• Increasing the electrode porosity, e.g. by laser induced cavities, helps to improve C-rate performance

Ljubljana, Slovenia - March 2023

Are Lithium-Sulfur batteries still interesting for commercial batteries? We are investigating and optimizing our Porocarb material for this application so that Lithium-Sulfur batteries can come to the market. Our European project ALISA “Advanced Lithium-Sulfur batteries with ultramicroporous carbons” has already started six months ago, but now we had the chance to meet our project partners in person. Dr. Alen Vizintin invited the participants to the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana where we met our colleagues from the ETH Zürich and the INM-Leibniz Institute for New Materials.

Discussed topics:

• nanotailored-nanopores in carbon (Porocarb)
• composition of the cathode and the electrolytes
• advanced structural characterization via TEM

We are looking forward to discussing the electrochemical performance of our Porocarb materials in combination with sulfur next time.

Frankfurt, Germany - December 2022

How can e-mobility become 100% sustainable – from production, to charging, recycling and beyond? Being part of the Future Charging Lab 2022 our Head of Innovation Dr. Moritz Hantel had the pleasure elaborate this topic during a discussion round with other industry experts from Aurubis, BMW and BASF.

Our key take aways are:

• A clever transition path is required to achieve an ecosystem-thinking
• The cobalt extraction from NMC111 batteries is currently more valuable than going for a second life application
• Extracting the carbon active materials and additives during battery recycling is still a challenge
• Collaboration between industry players along the supply-chain is key for success

Nashville, Tennessee - November 2022

The Transatlantic Electric Mobility Forum, funded by the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, gave a good overview of current electric mobility developments and projects in Tennessee and Alabama.

Driven by the inflation reduction policies, Tennessee and Alabama are currently attractive for investments. Thus, especially OEMs and also battery manufacturers are already on site and operating.

The event provided an excellent networking opportunity, including plant visits to some key players hosted by companies such as Nissan, Hyundai, Mercedes Benz and Microvast.

Seoul, South Korea - September 2022

We had the honor to present at the KABC this year again.  Learn more about what we have presented

We also summarized our key take aways of the conference:

• EV market is expected to grow by 33% to 55.68 million units reaching 3647 GWh in 2030 - similar outlook as at the last conferences
• Increase the proportion of electric vehicles by accelerating the global top OEM’s conversion to electric vehicles
• LFP dominates China, high-Ni globalization –  our latest LFP case study presents deeper insights
• Transition from China-centered production to European and North American local production
• 4680(46xxx) cell application are expanding more thru Tesla, BMW etc.
  
  

Braunschweig, Germany - September 2022

• VW announced to realized up-scaling with unified cell format (prismatic) for 80 % of their batteries and reducing complexity
• First Gigafactory of VW is planned for 40 GWh in Salzgitter
• Many battery companies want to expand globally, especially by planning R&D and production sites in Europe
• Strict regulations will push the market to innovative solutions, in-house recycling and energy production
  
  

Frankfurt, Germany - July 2022

We are pleased to have been part of this year's battery experts forum.

Here are our key learnings from the three days:

• EV battery market to grow by 29% annually reaching 3.750 GWh in 2030 - which are already much higher numbers as those presented at the AABC in June
• Chinese cell manufacturers increasing market share
• LFP usage increasing worldwide, but still single-digit usage outside China
• $/kWh increasing, if “greenflation” persists it might increase up to 143$/kWh
• Cylindrical cells face the challenge of increased temperature
  
  

Mainz, Germany - June 2022

We were able to gather many exciting impressions. Here are our key takeaways from the show:

• Market researchers predict 2300-3000 GWh LiB capacity in 2030
• EV trucks might be as big a segment as EV cars, with 400-600 kWh batteries per truck and 2k-3k cycles instead of 800 cycles for EV cars
• C/Si composites are reaching better maturities and have become close to the first commercial cell use
  
  

Leipzig, Germany - May 2022

• Annual meeting on adsorption and characterization of porous solids
• High quality talks from international scientists and professors regarding the latest development in academia
• Companies like 3P Instruments consulted on theoretical and practical issues about static and dynamic adsorption
  
  

Orlando, Florida - March 2022

Vineet Mehta from tesla estimates that it needs a storage capacity of 350 TWh in order to fully replace current fossil energies. Batteries will need to last 10,000 cycles if they are used regularly as a vehicle to grid energy storage, says Prof. Jeff Dahn. Both numbers are significantly higher than what current capacities and technologies can achieve.  Read more about these gaps and how they can be closed .

Heraeus innovations: Efficient batteries as a mobility and storage solution

As of 2035, the EU Commission wants no more new vehicles with combustion engines to be registered in the European Union. Many countries are currently planning and testing e-cars as electricity storage units to stabilize the grid. E-vehicles as a mass product and as the basis for a future decentralized energy supply - both will only work with particularly efficient, safe, and powerful batteries. For example, with lithium-ion batteries whose electrodes are boosted in terms of fast charge capability, safety and driving range by a special carbon additive.

 Read article how Porocarb® improves design freedom and ion transport in batteries