MODERN LABORATORY FACILITIES AND SCIENTIFIC KNOW-HOW
MEET has outstanding state-of-the-art equipment, technology and laboratories. This includes instruments for analyzing electrolytes, active and non-active materials, devices for optical and spectroscopic procedures, and facilities for particle and thermal analysis. In addition, there are laboratories with synthesis furnaces providing temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Celsius for synthesising polymers, electrolytes and particles. With its battery cyclers, MEET has about 1,500 channels with which cells of up to 20 amperes can be tested, and 20 other channels for cells of up to 400 amperes, as well as temperature-controlled ranges from minus 40 to plus 90 degrees Celsius. The team of scientists can thus analyze and evaluate all the battery components, from the raw materials to the finished cell.
Cell Manufacture at the Highest Technical Standard
In addition, with its dry rooms and clean room, the technical centre, around 1,000 square metres in size, gives the MEET scientists ideal conditions for working on the entire supply chain of cell production – from the raw material to the finished cell.
Two different assembly lines in the clean room enable the production of electrodes for cylindrical cells of the type “18650” and flat cells with a capacity of up to ten ampere-hours. For research purposes, electrodes for around 200 cells can be produced per week. During production, the technicians work on better mixing procedures for the materials, alternative coating techniques and new cutting methods.
The dry rooms at MEET, with their almost completely water-free atmosphere, provide an ideal environment for the production of safe, high-performance, long-life cells. 150 square meters in size, it has an equally distributed dew point of minus 60 degrees Celsius. This corresponds to a relative humidity of 0.02 per cent. In this regard, the rooms are top in Germany and allow battery research at the highest level. To ensure this low humidity, moisture is extracted from the air using a silica-gel desiccant wheel in an complex procedure, then reintroduced to the rooms with a dew point of minus 60 degrees Celsius. During the manufacturing process, the technicians work to optimize procedures for stacking cell components, sealing the cells and more precise injection of electrolytes.
