Topic

Fraunhofer IKTS provides significant advancements in electrode production technologies, focusing on optimizing quality control and manufacturing processes. The research emphasizes the use of high-precision sensors for real-time monitoring of wet film homogeneity and thickness in coating process, with optimized process parameters such as nozzle pre-pressure, flow rates, and coating speed. This includes establishing quality gates to ensure acceptable thickness inhomogeneity and edge profile accuracy, alongside developing algorithms to visualize wet and dry film characteristics.

Additionally, advanced laser speckle photometry (LSP) systems integrated with artificial intelligence enable in-situ defect detection and classification. By simulating industrial-grade defects and leveraging machine learning, the system identifies coating flaws like cracks and line defects while providing real-time monitoring at the drying tunnel exit.

These systems enhance the precision, reliability, and adaptability of electrode production, delivering robust quality control solutions that advance battery manufacturing technologies to meet industry demands.

Inline electrode thickness homogeneity measurement (left), Electrode coating defect detection (right).

The research is involved in two innovative projects from BMBF (IQ-EL and KritBatt) that explore inline quality monitoring and defect detection techniques in electrode production.

Services offered

• Expertise in real-time, non-destructive monitoring of electrode processes like mixing, drying, calendaring and slitting with precision sensor integration
• Data-driven solutions to stabilize parameters, optimize processes, and set quality gates
• Scaling technologies to industrial levels with advanced sensor integration in pilot systems
• Custom algorithms and models for precise process visualization and optimization