MEET Researcher Marcel Heidbüchel Wins Swiss Battery Days Poster Prize

Tailored Particle Morphologies Increase Energy Density and Cycle Life of the Cathode

MEET researcher Marcel Heidbüchel is delighted to have won the first poster prize at the international "Swiss Battery Days 2022". The poster contribution under Heidbüchel's leadership entitled "Impact of the Primary Particle Morphology on the Electrochemical Performance of Ni-rich Layered Oxide Cathode Materials" was awarded. The research results presented are based on a cooperation between MEET Battery Research Center at the University of Münster and Helmholtz Institute Münster of Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Marcel Heidbüchel (second from right) receives Poster Prize at Swiss Battery Days 2022 .
© EMPA

In the poster contribution, the research team focuses on the optimisation of cathode active materials to increase the energy density of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The researchers are pursuing the approach of modifying the primary particle shape of active materials. Prize winner Marcel Heidbüchel explains: "Ni-rich layered oxides (LiNixCoyMnzO2, x > 0.8) as active materials have both high energy densities and disadvantages such as shorter cycle life or lower thermal stability. Converting conventional grain-like primary particles to elongated needle-like structures using a Couette-Taylor-Flow reactor increases the energy density and improves the cycle life of these materials."

The research results of Marcel Heidbüchel and his poster co-authors Dr Aurora Gómez Martín, Dr Richard Schmuch and Dr Tobias Placke from MEET Battery Research Center and Prof. Martin Winter, MEET Battery Research Center and Helmholtz Institute Münster, are embedded in the EU-funded project "SENSE - Next Generation Lithium-Ion Batteries to Power Electric Vehicles".

Scientific Exchange in Battery Research

"Swiss Battery Days" were jointly organized by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) for the 4th time. Over 150 representatives from science and industry joined the conference. The event also offers young scientists the opportunity to present their work and network with renowned battery researchers from Europe.