Product Focus: Henkel Showcases New Material Solutions for Improving Battery Performance

Battery & Electrification INSIDER

Prismatic battery cell with conductive coating layer. (Image: Henkel)

Battery and battery electric vehicle manufacturers across the automotive industry have significant carbon reduction targets in place, with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality or even carbon negativity in the coming years. Meeting those targets means reducing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions put in place by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol . At this year’s 2024 Battery Show North America, Henkel is showcasing material solutions that enable its OEM and battery manufacturer customers to reduce impact across all emissions categories, while improving battery performance, safety, cost, and process efficiency.

Lithium-ion battery production generally relies on solvent-based slurries, which requires energy- and cost-intensive process steps, including drying ovens and solvent recovery/recycling. Henkel’s latest conductive coating provides strong adhesion between battery electrode current collectors and dry active material film, enabling battery manufacturers to implement dry battery electrode processing.

Dry battery electrode processing offers numerous advantages, including reducing energy demand by up to 25 percent; potential to reduce electrode production floor space by 60 percent; complying with regulatory measures limiting chemicals of concern; enabling higher energy densities through thicker electrodes.

Henkel’s etch passivation process for light metal battery housings eliminates the use of chromium, while shortening processing steps and providing greater production flexibility for metal pretreatment. The process combines etching and passivation into one step and eliminates a rinse stage — reducing total processing steps from eight in a classical light metal pretreatment process to six. After the process is complete, treated parts have the necessary surface properties for future processing, such as welding, adhesive bonding and paint adhesion.

Electrical delamination debonding. (Image: Henkel)

Battery debonding technology is critical to enable end-of-line repair and disassembly of batteries at end of life. Henkel’s research efforts into debondable adhesives include both thermal and electrical delamination triggers that help ensure non-destructive dismantling. Details regarding both thermal and electrical delamination triggers will be featured.

“Compared to Europe, the United States is just beginning its journey toward regulatory requirements for EV Batteries,” said Pankaj Arora, Vice President Electronics and E-Mobility, Henkel Corporation, North America. “But dialogue is continuing to increase and it’s essential we prepare today in order to enable the repair, reuse and recyclability of the battery,” he added. The Battery Show Booth 2618

For more info, visit www.henkel.com