International Graduate School BACCARA

The battery company PowerCo and the International Graduate School BACCARA at the Universität Münster are entering into a extensive cooperation. Over the next three years, PowerCo will support the financing of the BACCARA research program and the associated doctoral positions. In addition, students will gain a deeper insight into practice, for example through expert lectures and on-site projects. PowerCo is a global battery cell manufacturer that was founded by the Volkswagen Group in 2022. Headquartered in Salzgitter, the company is responsible for the development and production of battery cells as well as the vertical integration of the value chain. PowerCo is currently building a total of three cell factories with a total volume of up to 200 gigawatt hours per year: Salzgitter in Germany, Valencia in Spain and St. Thomas in Canada.   The ceremonial handover of the cooperation agreement between PowerCo SE and the University of Münster took place in Münster on 23rd of May. As part of his visit Sebastian Krapoth, CHRO of PowerCo, was given a detailed insight into life and research activities in the battery sector at the University of Münster. During the joint lunch and the subsequent meeting, he had the opportunity to talk to the two scientific directors of the International Research School BACCARA - Prof. Martin Winter and Prof. Frank Glorius - as well as to Dr. Falko Schappacher (technical and commercial director of the MEET Battery Research Center), to the managing director of the Graduate School Dr. Dr. Julia Quante, to Dr. Kerstin Neuhaus (working group leader at the Helmholtz-Institute Münster and BACCARA Administration) and to two of the BACCARA Fellows, Bärbel Tengen and ATIF JAVED.   The contract has now been signed by all parties involved. We are looking forward to a close and fruitful collaboration. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/dCNvyAiY https://lnkd.in/eDj78qCY

The front cover of Anindityo (Tio) Arifiadi illustrates the importance of adjusting operation protocol by selectively adjusting conditions during #battery application, formation cycles, and even discharge for Li/Mn rich (LMR)-based Li ion batteries in order to optimize gravimetric/volumetric energy and cycle life. https://lnkd.in/e6J2vGR3 Thanks to co authors Tobias Brake, Feleke Demelash, Bixian Ying, Karin Kleiner, Hyuck Hur, Simon Wiemers-Meyer and Martin Winter from MEET Battery Research Center, LG Energy Solution, International Graduate School BACCARA for funding and for course Andre Bar for the illustration.

#Meet_the_speakers Session : Industry Talk We are glad to announce that Dr. Martin Schulz-Dobrick will be delivering a talk titled “𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐂𝐨” at our BACCARA Power Day on 7th November, 2024. About the speaker :  Dr. Martin Schulz-Dobrick obtained his doctorate in 2008 at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research. During his many years at BASF in Germany and Japan, he gained extensive experience in the field of batteries and battery materials. In particular, he focused on the development of cathode materials. Since 2023, he has been Head of Materials Development at PowerCo, where he plays a key role in shaping the further development of battery technology. His expertise is helping to bring innovative technologies to the European battery industry and drive sustainable mobility forward. Please register for the conference here https://lnkd.in/eYqnkvbY, we look forward to your participance!

Congratulations to Maike Gnutzmann and co-authors on their newest publication 🎉 .

A ban 🚫 on perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (#PFAS) is currently being discussed in the #EU, as the chemicals accumulate in organisms and the environment are hardly degradable. Biopolymers, in particular polysaccharides, are a #sustainable alternative as electrode binders in #batteryproduction. In his latest publication, Simon Albers from our institute and the International Graduate School BACCARA uses a dual binder approach with high and low viscosity sugar groups (known from the food industry 🍭). Due to the constant viscosity, this enables systematic #research on the modifications of the binder in the aqueous processing of nickel-rich lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese oxides (NCMs) as cathodes in high-energy lithium-ion batteries. 👀 Read more about his approach: https://lnkd.in/eFVQmRDW

#Meet_the_speakers Session : Next Generation Batteries We are glad to announce that Dr. Daria Mikhailova will be delivering a talk titled “𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬” at our BACCARA Power Day on 7th November, 2024. About the speaker : Dr. Mikhailova is currently a team leader at Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, Germany. Her research interests include Li-S and Na-S batteries, anode materials, carboneous materials, battery components for extreme conditions, target morphologies and beyond-Li chemistries for batteries. More about her research work can be found at her group webpage https://lnkd.in/dxtU2sG8. Please register for the conference here https://lnkd.in/eYqnkvbY, we look forward to your participance!

🎉 Congratulations to our fellows Matthias Hartmann and Jędrzej Kondek, who were awarded a poster prize at the Solid State Ionics 2024 for their posters on "Structure-transport correlations in W-substituted K3SbS4 as K+-conducting solid electrolytes" and "Investigations of Ion Dynamics and Structure of Li10B10S(20-x)Ix via Solid-State NMR" 🎉 .

#Meet_the_speakers Session : Interface Analysis We are glad to announce that Prof. Anja Henß will be delivering a talk titled “𝐈𝐧-𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐞/𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬” at our BACCARA Power Day on 7th November, 2024. About the speaker : Prof. Henß currently holds the position of a professor for materials science with focus on surface and materials analysis at Justus Liebig University (JLU), Gießen, Germany. She is also the head of the analytical platform ElCh, Center for Material Research (LaMa) at JLU. Her research interests include high-resolution analytical methods for understanding material properties in energy, semiconductor, biomaterials and instrumental analytics in the life sciences. More about her research works can be found at her group webpage (https://lnkd.in/edErFSVj). Please register for the conference here https://lnkd.in/eYqnkvbY, we look forward to your participance!

# Meet_the_speakers Session : Recycling and Sustainability We are glad to announce that Prof. Emma Kendrick will be delivering a talk on the topic of ‘Recycling and Sustainability` at our BACCARA Power Day on 7th November, 2024. About the speaker : Prof. Kendrick is Chair of Energy Materials, in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham (UoB), co-director of the Centre for Energy Storage (BCES) and co-lead of the Energy Materials Group (EMG). Her group investigates sustainability in novel battery technologies from materials, manufacturing, testing and characterisation to recycling. Prior to UoB, she was a Reader in WMG, University of Warwick. Her industry experience includes the role of Chief Technologist in Energy Storage at SHARP Laboratories of Europe Ltd (SLE) and experience with two lithium-ion battery SMEs, Fife Batteries Ltd and Surion Energy Ltd. She has been recognised for her research in sustainable batteries and her continued support to the research community through several awards; 2021 Faraday Institution (FI) Researcher Development Champion, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2021 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division Mid-Career Award, and the 2019 Hothersall Memorial Award for outstanding services to Metal Finishing. More about her research works can be found at her group webpage (https://lnkd.in/eNNHsGFQ). Please register for the conference here https://lnkd.in/eYqnkvbY, we look forward to your participance! 

Upon invitation of Prof. Simon Lux from Fraunhofer-Einrichtung Forschungsfertigung Batteriezelle FFB, we hosted a talk by Prof. Feng Lin from Virginia Tech at MEET Battery Research Center today. Thank you Prof. Lin for an exciting lecture on local differences between individual NMC particles during #battery cycling and the influence of microstructure.