AVL List GmbH:

AVL will be the coordinator of the project and will be work package leader of WP6, being responsible for cell validation, and conceptioning a virtual battery.

As an engineering company with longstanding expertise for conventional and electrical powertrains AVL will, in close cooperation with the Partners, carry out the aggregation of the basic requirements, and elevaborate module and pack concepts both, automotive and stationary applications. The Impact of the new technologies on module and pack design will evalutated.

Based on the requirements collected with the WP2, the new technology cells will be characterised. Performance tests, cycle and calendar life tests, and safety tests will be made, thus an improved estimation of the cells performance and aging behaviour will be achieved.

Arkema France:

ARKEMA will be the leader of WP3 that deals with the formulation and manufacturing process at lab scale of anode, cathode and separator.

ARKEMA's battery group will mainly contribute to WP3. Arkema will be in charge of the selection and supply of Kynar® PVDF binder suitable for eco-friendly manufacturing process of cathodes. Arkema will supply electrolyte materials selected from electrochemical stability and ionic conductivity criteria. Furthermore, Arkema will develop the Gel Polymer Eletrolyte based on PVDF Kynar® extruded films.

BMW Group:

The BMW Group is the only automotive and motorcycle manufacturer worldwide to focus all ist brands BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, on the premium segment. With the BMW i3 and subsequent electric vehicles the BMW Group also plays a leading international role in the field of electro-mobility.

Within IMAGE, BMW will lead WP2 and is so responsible for Li-Ion Cell specifications and requirements. In close collaboration with the project partners high-level industrial cell specification and requirements for automotive (BMW) and stationary (VARTA Storage) applications will be defined. Furthermore, test and validation protocols will be determined for the project cells in order to investigate the project targets against requirements.

In further WPs BMW will also support the developmnet and industrializiation of the project cells.

CIC Energigune:

CIC Energigune is a Research center focused on basic an applied research in energy related materials orineted to storage applications. We aim to contribute to industrial competitiveness through: excellent and breakthrough research, Transfer of technology and knowledge to industry; coordination o Basque Technology and research offorts in the energy storage field. Our objectives are stronlgly aligned with the Basque Country RIS3 priorities and the Energibasque strategy, which indentifies storage as the central key to solve the future energy needs.

In IMAGE, CIC Energigune will explore new ways of maufacturing batteries for the emerging technologies and more particularly focusing on all-solid-state batteries. A roadmap for competive production of all-solid-state batteries will be detailed, providing an overall vision of potential processes within the different stages of manufacturing and the impact they could provide in terms of costs, quality, performance, saftey and lifetime. This work, in collaboration with ISEA and TU Graz, will be possible via solid network of IMAGE partners and the organization of the workshops to identify futuze markets trends and novel production technologies.

Hydro Québec:

HQ will lead the WP4 and contribute to WP3 & WP5; being responsible for the first validation of the cell designs that integrate all of the materials and components developed in the other WPs. HQ has developed a strong expertise in the lithium metal battery technology, and succeeded to overcome technical challenges to design very thin films with highly homogenous surface the stabilized Li-metal anode. This development will be highly important to the success of this project. Based on ist experience on manipulating lithium metal, HQ will identify the suitable maufacturing routes of lithium metal anode electrodes for the polymer battery.

HQ will develop full multilayer proof-of-concept cell assembly steps in order to transfer the process knowledge to the larger active area and capacity cell prototype manufacturing in WP5.

CIDETEC Energy Storage:

CIDETEC Energy Storage will be work package leader of WP5, in charge of the prototype cell development and manufacturing to validate Li metal battery cells assembly process towards mass production. CIDETEC will also bring know-how on Li-ion electrode formulation, processing and cell design participating in component development in WP3 and WP4. The main technical Tasks planed are:

- VOC-free coating cathode electrode manufacturing development, otimizing process parameters for high voltage (NMC622) cathode from environmetally friendly aqueous slurries.

- Li battery cell design and assembly process optimization at pilot-scale, by R2R cathode manufacturing and production of up to 100 pouch cell prototypes with IMAGE components and technology.

ISEA RWTH Aachen:

RWTH Aachen is the largest technical university of German educating almost 45,000 students, 70% in engineering and sciences. As a part of faculty of electric engineering, the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), Chair for Aging Processes and Lifetime Prediction of Batteries participates in IMAGE. The strategy of ISEA is to focus its investigations on upcomming battery cell systems and therefore contributes during the project to the cell and production development process significantly. Furthermore, ISEA will play a crucial role in understanding the degradation of next-generation Li-metal battery cells and in developing strategies for stabilization as well in enabling innovative methods for investigating electrodes and cells.

MANZ Italy

MANZ is one of the leading provider of production equipment for lithium-ion battery cells, modules and packs as well as for capacitors. In this area, we have been setting standards worldwide for 30 years. With our globally unique technology protfolio for the production of all current cell concepts - from wound button cell to stacked pouch cells - we play a major role in the continued development of lithium-ion battery technology.

We offer our customers individual machines for laboratory production, equipment for pilot and small production, complete assembly lines and turnkey solutions for battery manufacturing. All system concepts are distinguished by their high production speed, high precision and reliability.

MANZ will operate mainly in WP5. MANZ will contribute to define GEN4 lithium cell maufacturing approach, analyzing the production-oriented technologies which fulfill the newest requirements for the new generation of lithium batteries. This will include a development roadmap that will be easy to be scalable from R&D to pilot level up to mass production while remaining cost effictive, flexible and safer.

UMICORE:

UMICORE Rechargeable Battery Materials is a leader of the production and development of cathode materials for Li-ion battery technology. Our work will focus on the further development of NMC products that are suitable for the electrolyte and electrode manufacturing process developed within IMAGE. We also aim to achieve higher cut-off voltages, increasing drastically the energy density of our materials. For all these customized products, UMICORE will set up product specifications with the cell and component makers (WP3) and will optimize products as to achieve performance targets of the project. UMICORE will also bring these dedicated materials solutions to prototype stage (WP5).

TU Graz:

The Graz University of Technology is one of the largest technical universities in Austria focusing on advanced materials for energy applications. The Wilkening Group of the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Materials uses NMR and broadband impedance spectrocopy to analyze charge carrier dynamics in solid electrolytes putting emphasis on ceramic materials. In a joint work package with CIC Energigune and ISEA (RWTH Aachen) TU Graz helps to prepare a roadmap for the competitive production of all-solid-state cells in Europe. Furthermore, in IMAGE inorganic materials and inorganic-polymer composites are evbaluated which shall enable the next-generation of relaible all-solid-state lithium batteries. This Task includes the analysis of pratical synthesis routes, transport properties and Interface phenomena, in particular.

VARTA Microbattery GmbH:

VARTA Microbattery is an international leading and globally active manufacturer of retail and OEM batteries with more than 130 years of experiences, and produce batteries in many important electrochemical systems as well as in all major types and sizes.

Within IMAGE VARTA Microbattery is the leader of WP9 (business, exploitation and dissemiation).

Under lead of CIDETEC and in close cooperation with MANZ, VARTA Microbattery will define and develope innovative mass production processes for the developed cell chemistry and design, and will create a roadmap for future mass production in Europe.

In oder to bring the IMAGE technology closer to the market, VARTA Microbattery will provide a dedicated business plan and cost assessment over the complete value chain.

VARTA Storage:

VARTA Storage, a subidary of VARTA AG, specializes in lithium-ion battery storage for various applications as well as in energy storage for private household and commercial use. The company is located in Nördlingen, Bavaria.

Within the project IMAGE VARTA Storage specifies the cell requirements and specifications for the stationary application. As a basis for the cell validation the company sets up a test plan and accompanies thes testing phase. Together with BMW Group and AVL a virtual battery module concept will be developed in order to evaluate the impact of future cell technologies on the modul design. For business, explotaion and dissemination purposes VARTA Storage supports the market analysis, the business development as well as the environmetal assessment of the cells.

VRIJE Universiteit Brussel:

Research group MOBI at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is the main Belgian expertise centre for research and development of energy storage systems for traction and stationary applications. It offers state-of-the-art facilities, tools and solutions for the energy storage market. MOBI owns and operates the largest Belgian battery testing capacity and develops dedicated battery, hybrid capacitor and supercapacitor models, battery management systems, thermal management systems and dedicated state estimation techniques. This is based on in-depth experimental analysis. As such, MOBI makes an active contribution to international standardisation, facilitating benchmarking . BIC's extensive database of experimental results also enables more advanved modelling and benchmarking from material to system levels.

In the framework of this project, VUB will be the work package leader of WP8 in charge of the development of the production line battery model. As such MOBI will use its modeelling expertise to bridge the gab between new and upcomming material technologies and production and optimization of cells. Further VUB will perform Life Cycle Analysis and is involved in the development of test procedures in WP2 and cell validation in WP6.