New Electrode Manufacturing Process Equipment: Novel High Energy Density Lithium-Ion Cell Designs via Innovative Manufacturing Process Modules for Cathode and Integrated Separator

BEEST Project: Applied Materials is developing new tools for manufacturing Li-Ion batteries that could dramatically increase their performance. Traditionally, the positive and negative terminals of Li-Ion batteries are mixed with glue-like materials called binders, pressed onto electrodes, and then physically kept apart by winding a polymer mesh material between them called a separator. With the Applied Materials system, many of these manually intensive processes will be replaced by next generation coating technology to apply each component. This process will improve product reliability and performance of the cells at a fraction of the current cost. These novel manufacturing techniques will also increase the energy density of the battery and reduce the size of several of the battery’s components to free up more space within the cell for storage