In conversation: Dr Keon Woo Lee, PhD, eMBA Peter Donaldson chats to a leading battery expert, who says innovation is all about winning against the things you can trade off. In a rapidly evolving EV landscape, the quest for advanced battery technologies remains at the forefront. Dr Keon Woo Lee leads Henkel’s Fuel the Future Team and Engineering and Advanced Testing Team at the newly opened Battery Engineering Center (BEC) within the Inspiration Center Düsseldorf, Germany. Here, they collaborate with battery manufacturers and automotive OEMs to tailor materials, and even formulate new ones to meet increasingly stringent demands for performance, safety, service life and sustainability. Keon categorises the materials his team focuses on into three key areas. “The first one is conductive coatings,” he says. “These are coating materials used inside the battery cell, primarily for the dry electrode process.” The conductive coating plays a crucial role in the sustainable manufacture of battery cells without using hazardous solvent. This technology made lithium iron phosphate batteries practical; a chemistry gaining traction in EV applications as the emphasis on stability and safety grows. It now opens up another level of battery manufacturing technology – dry coating. The second category is safety materials, which includes coatings and potting materials with properties such as dielectric protection, thermal management (conductivity and insulation) and structural integrity. Thirdly, he emphasises the importance of rapidly emerging debonding technologies. “Debonding is connected with the sustainability of batteries,” he says. Aiding the development of these materials, Keon’s team at the BEC is heavily invested in digital technologies, including simulation and machine learning. “We are working on modelling our materials and validating them through real-world tests.” The team collaborates with battery and EV manufacturers to customise materials for their specific needs. “We were already well-equipped with materials and formulations, and with component-level testing, and we’ve also invested in a full-scale test facility – our BEC,” he explains. This facility allows Henkel to model, simulate and validate new materials and designs with real batteries. “Partners visit our facility more frequently because we can give them what they want,” and manufacturers work directly with the Henkel team at the BEC, Keon says. “We show them how to apply and test our materials, creating a collaborative environment.” Click here to read the full article ▶ https://lnkd.in/e7g9ZcZR #batteries #evbatteries #batterytechnology #batterymaterials #thermalmanagement #batterytesting
Karim Sorour
3w
Keon Woo Lee, Thanks for sharing such great insights as always!
It’s amazing to see how Henkel is pushing the boundaries in battery tech with those innovative materials and collaborative efforts at the Battery Engineering Center.