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An 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ team has been awarded the prestigious Armourers and Brasiers’ Materials Science Venture Prize for a new technology that could make it cheaper – and greener – to produce lithium-ion batteries.

The breakthrough – a solvent-free dry electrode manufacturing technology – is being developed as a spinout opportunity at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ. recognises excellence in materials science innovation with high commercial potential. The prize money will go towards demonstrating the technology can be scaled to commercial production levels.

Advanced B-Solv, led by , Associate Professor in Energy Storage Materials in the Department of Materials at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ, is developing new materials and a solvent-free dry electrode coating technology that could transform the production of lithium-ion batteries, dramatically reducing costs and negative environmental impacts.

“Dry electrode processing could cut costs and emissions for battery manufacturers,” said Dr Chun Ann Huang. “It has attracted a lot of attention, but maintaining electrode integrity and consistency has been challenging. Our innovation aims to overcome these barriers and enable widespread adoption.”

Lithium-ion batteries are in high and growing demand worldwide as electrification and consumer technologies proliferate. The market could more than double in value, reaching $425 billion by 2033 and sales could reach 3 TWh of capacity by 2030, rising from around 1 TWh today.

Lithium-ion battery manufacturers currently use a wet electrode processing method involving a highly toxic organic solvent known as NMP. This creates a thick slurry of materials that is coated onto current collectors, which are then dried in large ovens to make electrodes.

This method is costly, energy intensive and environmentally hazardous. The toxicity of the solvent used has a negative impact on factory workers, creates an environmental hazard and requires expensive and time-consuming recovery steps.

The next step is to show how to make battery electrodes consistent at a larger scale. Dr Chun Ann Huang Associate Professor in Energy Storage Materials

The patented technology behind Advanced B-Solv aims to entirely remove this step from lithium-ion battery production. Their approach develops new materials and compresses powder materials into battery electrodes without using solvents, reducing complexity, cost and energy consumption.

Batteries created using the Advanced B-Solv process have also been shown to have improved performance. “The next step is to show how to make battery electrodes consistent at a larger scale.” said Dr Huang.

The £25,000 Armourers and Brasiers’ venture prize will help Dr Huang’s team show their new approach can be effective in the scalable manufacturing process.

At 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ, Dr Huang has been supported by the EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) and DT-Prime, a programme that works with researchers to turn deep tech innovation into ventures that can scale, providing non-dilutive funding, tailored support and expert mentorship.

Dr Huang's work is a great example of what 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ does best: tackling an industrial problem that matters, doing it rigorously and using our excellence in science drive impact. Professor Mary Ryan Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise)

Professor Mary Ryan, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) and the Armourers and Brasiers’ Chair for Materials Science at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ, said: “Dr Huang's work is a great example of what 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ does best: tackling an industrial problem that matters, doing it rigorously and using our excellence in science drive impact. Removing toxic solvents from battery electrode production is a long-standing problem with obvious environmental and economic benefits – challenging to do in the lab and even harder to scale. Advanced B-Solv is closing that gap. We're delighted to see this recognised by the Armourers and Brasiers’ Company, and we look forward to supporting the team as they move toward commercial-scale demonstration.”

Advanced B-Solv is aligned with the Faraday Institution’s “Nextrode – Next Generation Electrodes” programme and “LEAP: Lithium-ion: Enhancing and Accelerating Performance” programme where Dr Huang is a co-investigator, and benefits from the organisations’ extensive industrial network and commercialisation expertise.