With its X.Cellify DC dry coating technology, the machine and plant manufacturer is pursuing a new approach to the production of battery electrodes. The technology addresses key challenges in battery cell production: It reduces the energy and space requirements of electrode manufacturing, increases flexibility in processing different active materials, and lays the foundation for more sustainable industrial production.
The E-Mobility Production Awards are presented jointly by the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) at RWTH Aachen University, PEM Share, and Berylls by AlixPartners, in cooperation with the VDMA network organization. The Award for Process Innovation in Battery Production is presented as a community award and honors machine and plant manufacturers with innovative technologies for battery production. The evaluation took place in two stages: First, an award committee made a preliminary selection, after which a public online vote was held. The innovations were then presented at the Battery Production Days in Aachen, where they were evaluated by event participants in a live on-site vote.
With its award-winning X.Cellify DC technology, Dürr has developed a dry coating process based on industrially proven calendering processes. Unlike conventional wet coating, the technology does not require the energy-intensive drying of large quantities of solvents. This significantly reduces both energy consumption and space requirements in production. At the same time, Dürr’s dry coating technology offers high flexibility in processing different active materials. Wide process windows enable rapid adaptation to various material systems and future cell generations.
Furthermore, X.Cellify DC offers advantages in terms of material efficiency. Excess active material can be fully recycled back into the production process. Analyses of the manufactured electrodes also show positive effects on their physical and electrochemical properties, which can have a beneficial impact on the performance of the battery cells.
“This award validates our approach of consistently rethinking electrode manufacturing,” says Dr. Peter Smyrek, R&D Engineer for LiB at Dürr, who accepted the award. “With X.Cellify DC, we have developed a technology that significantly reduces resource consumption in battery cell production while offering fast and flexible adaptation to different active materials. In doing so, we are laying the groundwork for cost-effective and sustainable cell manufacturing on an industrial scale.”
Following the successful proof-of-concept, Dürr is already working with an industry partner to further develop the technology to the next industrial scale. This development step is intended to pave the way for sustainable, flexible, and mass-production-ready electrode manufacturing and to further advance the industrialization of dry coating.
