Development of a property forecast tool for flexible compositions of Li-ion batteries, including raw material availability and price forming

In today's world full of rigorous government measures regarding the fuel economyand a large EV and smart device market emerging from it, batteries represent apioneering technology used as storage for renewable energies such as wind and solar.More precisely, the Li-ion family of batteries has experienced an exponential growthin sales. Having high energy density, these batteries are also well suited for mobiledevices such as wearables, smartphones, tablets, cameras, notebooks and electricvehicles.[1] However, the technology has not completely matured yet and there is stilla lot of space for improvements and new discoveries. This thesis considers thecomposition of lithium-ion batteries together with the global distribution andeconomical aspects of materials used. The components of Li-ion cells of different cellformats (e.g. 18650, 21700) were investigated together with their physical andchemical properties. Through this process, an interactive tool for calculating costs,cell parameters and quantity of active materials was developed. The main purpose ofthe tool was to enable a user to input data such as thicknesses of electrodes, togetherwith the capacity of the cell and output how much material is needed for suchelectrodes and what energy density is achieved. These parameters, such as the massof active material, were linked to a cost calculator, determining the costs of a singlecell. The calculator is useful for further research purposes on Li-ion batteries, as theinput variables can be modified in according to the user's preferences, whereas costdetermination is useful for sales planning and battery manufacturing