The Horizon Europe project HEALING BAT kicked off on 1st June in Dortmund, Germany. To investigate the EU batteries of the future, it has been granted €5,791,347 from the European Commission, and the respective UK and Swiss funding agencies. In particular, the EU project aims to develop a new class of self-healing smart batteries based on lithium-sulfur (Li-S), by embedding new sensor-actuator concepts to allow for implementing self-healing materials and healing strategies in key battery components.
The consortium of the EU project is formed by 10 leading European research centres, universities and innovative companies from 6 European countries, coordinated by TU Dortmund (DE). The other partners are CPI (UK), Coventry University (UK), Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (DE), TU Delft (NL), Paul Scherrer Institute (CH), IDNEO (ES), Fundació Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (ES), FI Group (PT), SupraPolix (NL). Moreover, the project is part of BATTERY2030+, a large-scale European research initiative that brings together different Horizon Europe projects to invent the sustainable EU batteries of the future.
HEALING BAT celebrated its kick-off meeting on June 1st and 2nd, hosted by the coordinator in its offices at the Technical University of Dortmund in Germany. During the event, all partners met each other, shared their technical backgrounds and presented their expected contributions to this Horizon Europe project. To promote team building and kick-start an international collaboration, the coordinator organised a visit to Dortmund’s abandoned Phoenix West steel mill. The meetings ended with a coordination session, followed by a planning of the upcoming activities and deliverables.
Today, the former Phoenix West area is not only a monument of industrial history but has become a symbol for seeding innovative enterprises as a cornerstone in managing structural change. In this spirit, HEALING BAT will play its part in transforming Europe’s battery cell industry towards a more sustainable, more competitive future role.
Stefan Palzer, project coordinator at TU Dortmund
The European Union seeks to reemerge as a world leader in the field of batteries by speeding up the development of underlying critical technologies, enabling a European battery cell manufacturing industry to make use of sustainable energy, as well as implementing circular economy principles.
Right now, lithium-ion (Li-ion) chemistries dominate the market for rechargeable batteries, but the current generation is nearing the end of its improvement limits. Li-ion battery performance and manufacturing are unlikely to keep up improvements at a rate that is sufficient to establish a climate-neutral society without substantial breakthroughs.
Consequently, the EU is supporting innovative ideas to allow for the development of the sustainable batteries of the future, which will demand fewer resources, and be smarter and more sustainable, creating the groundwork for the competitiveness of EU batteries.
In this context, HEALING BAT aims at developing and implementing self-healing materials and healing strategies in key battery components, used in conventional lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, and extrapolate the designs and concepts to develop a new class of self-healing Li-S batteries.
Furthermore, this EU project will create a toolbox consisting of self-healing materials, relevant sensors and bespoke Battery Management Systems (BMS), with the aim of maximising the performance of the developed Li-S battery in terms of quality, reliability and lifetime, as well as avoiding or timely healing occurring damages that could lead to battery degradation. The ultimate purpose of this toolbox is to control the flow of energy to and from the battery system, monitor any errors and apply corrective actions when necessary.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.