Process R&D and Scale-up of Advanced Battery Materials at Argonne's Materials Engineering Research Facility

Argonne's Materials Engineering Research Facility (MERF) supports the laboratory's Advanced Battery Materials Synthesis and Manufacturing R&D Program. The MERF is enabling the development of manufacturing processes for producing advanced battery materials in sufficient quantity for industrial testing. The engineering research conducted in this program is known as process scale-up. Scale-up R&D involves taking a laboratory-developed material and developing a safe, reliable and economical commercial-scale process. This represents one of the most significant hurdles in transitioning new battery materials and technologies to the market. By bridging the gap between small-scale laboratory research and high-volume battery manufacturing, research at the MERF will lead to substantial progress in the development, validation and ultimate commercialization of advanced battery materials chemistries. In addition, advanced manufacturing processes are investigated to determine performance and cost benefits to material production. Advanced materials produced are then made available to the battery research community to further their work using high quality, standardized baseline materials. An overview of the program will be given as well as a summary of current scale-up projects.