PHOENIX aims to develop battery cells with integrated sensors (mechanical, enhanced impedance spectroscopy, temperature, gas, reference electrode) and self-healing (SH) functionalities (magnetically activated polymers, thermally activated polymers, metallic organic frameworks coated separator, core-shell NMC composites). Tailor made triggering devices to activate SH mechanisms will be developed, prototyped and demonstrated in Generation 3b and 4a Li Ion batteries. A Battery Management System (BMS), capable of detecting defective operations and of triggering SH functionalities will be developed with in-line communication. The degradation detection and quality, reliability and life (QRL) will be tested through dedicated profiles (fast charging, extreme temperatures, calendar life). The novel batteries’ manufacturing will be studied from a recycling and mass production point of view. PHOENIX’s objectives: 1. Develop sensors to detect healable degradation mechanisms 2. Develop materials with SH functionalities triggered by external stimulus to eliminate/avoid failure mechanisms in battery cell components 3. Develop triggering devices to activate SH mechanisms 4. Demonstrate proof of concept for coupling sensors and SH agents via BMS 5. Detect critical degradation processes during cell ageing and estimate the QRL over the life span 6. Assess the environmental sustainability and demonstrate the competitive advantage over alternative approaches such as replacement, recycling or second use 7. Adopt an adaptable approach towards battery cells mass production processes which do not hinder the subsequent recycling process and enables an economic evaluation of the developed cells PHOENIX will collaborate with the BATTERY 2030+ initiative and will contribute to Europe’s competitive and sustainable battery manufacturing industry. PHOENIX consortium is a partnership of 4 RTOs, 1 university, 4 SMEs expert in materials, sensors, modelling, BMS, recycling and battery manufacturing.

The increasing e-mobility will trigger a battery waste problem (9Mtons/year by 2040) despite that many of the used LIBs are suited for 2nd-life applications for an additional 10 years, representing an opportunity to diminish energy and raw materials dependencies in Europe. Technical hurdles are preventing the re-use and recycling of Li-ion batteries. Besides the heterogeneity of the battery stock, assessing their condition for further usage is a slow process performed with equipment not suited for industrial contexts while. Dismantling packs and modules is in addition a costly and slow manual process because its automation faces extremely complex, multi-scale, cluttered and densely packed environments. REBELION will validate two circular schemes (including Light e-vehicles) to maximise 2nd life utility and domestic applications, enabled by a disruptive fast battery testing based on Electronic Noise Analysis, and an autonomous pack and module disassembly system with re-configuring capabilities for the ongoing battery types and formats. Additionally, a novel labelling system supported with blockchain, digital battery passport and ecolabel technology will provide key information to dismantlers, recyclers, re-manufacturers and users. Processing large volumes of used batteries increases the risks of thermal runway incidents, requiring thus novel safety protocols and systems. REBELION will add thermal monitoring and the design of a smart container for storage and transportation with thermal and gas sensing layers to monitor the limiting oxygen index and lower explosive limits, and a cooling system that activates when thresholds are surpassed. REBELION consortium covers all the value chain, including advanced robotic line and car manufacturer, bringing key knowledge, proprietary technology, and pilot validation facilities. The combination of 4 research centres and 7 industrial partners will ensure technology transference from lab to industrial context.

The GENESIS project will gauge the environmental sustainability of electric aircraft (A/C) in a life-cycle-based, foresight perspective to support the development of a technology roadmap for transitioning towards sustainable and competitive electric A/C systems. The focus is on regional class, 50 pax aircraft to identify, design and assess prospectively the best energy storage and transmission topology. Different alternatives within battery, fuel cell, hybrid and conventional powertrain technologies are evaluated and compared over different time horizons. To meet these objectives and scoping, GENESIS relies on a strong consortium of 10 partners – 5 world-leading research partners, 4 R&D-active SMEs and 1 large company – gathering excellence and complementary competences that cover all key aspects of the project. GENESIS will design electric (all-electric and hybrid) aircraft and elicit specific requirements, which will feed into technology foresight analyses. These will allow highlighting technological limits and potential solutions within each component of the aircraft system life cycle, which includes the life cycle of the aircraft itself as well as the life cycle of the fuels and that of the on-ground infrastructures. The analyses will enable the development of time- and technology-specific life cycle inventories, used as basis for a full-fledged prospective life cycle assessment. Combining the resulting environmental performances with those from an economic analysis and a technical analysis, comprehensive scenario comparisons between the different powertrain alternatives will be made, enabling GENESIS to identify relevant solutions and ultimately derive a detailed sustainability-based Technology Roadmap. GENESIS is anticipated to have large impact on all aeronautics stakeholders as its outputs will provide the means to steer research and boost industrial innovation and competitiveness in the EU while moving towards environmentally sustainable aviation.

SOURCE will develop, improve and demonstrate in an industrially relevant environment economically and environmentally viable routes for producing battery-grade synthetic graphite for high-performance anodes. SOURCE will first enable the production of carbon precursors from heterogeneous raw material sources, including alternative sustainable petroleum feedstocks, bio-waste and black mass from recycled batteries, to reduce the current dependence of synthetic graphite from petroleum-based coke. Sustainable technologies to transform these materials into carbon feedstock will be demonstrated at TRL6/7. Additionally, low-temperature graphitization techniques (30% potential reduction of the energy consumption and production cost. Innovative high-performance Carbon@graphite, Si@graphite, and graphene@graphite coatings and anode (capacity > 350 mAh/g) will be formulated, fabricated, tested and validated in 1Ah prototype pouch cells at TRL7. Recycling processes to recover graphite at low cost with >90% purity from LiB EoL batteries and >98% purity from anode production scrap will be demonstrated at TRL7. LCA and LCC analysis will be delivered to accurately assess the sustainability of SOURCE synthetic graphite and value chain defining the best routes to ensure economic and environmental sustainability. SOURCE brings together key EU industries with main businesses in graphite precursors and synthetic graphite production, and advanced anode formulation, supported by EU leading RTOs forming the complete value chain to produce high quality synthetic graphite in a sustainable and economic way. SOURCE achievements will increase EU competitiveness and independence from foreign graphite suppliers and anode manufacturers. SOURCE technologies and materials will be directly exploited by its top-level industrial partners with a direct market presence and already established commercial channels, ensuring SOURCE value chain sustainability.

BATSS project will focus on the development of a novel battery system concept which exhibits improved high-performance and safety, as a way to unlock the market uptake of next-generation battery system to a broad range of transport applications. The project will develop a specific Safe-by-Design (SbD) approach to guide the whole R&D process, aiming at identifying and mitigating (even eliminating) safety risks across the life cycle of the battery, while also allowing to counteract possible performance and cost trade-offs linked to the implementation of safety barriers in the battery system. The Consortium will develop a new cell-to-pack modular concept targeting at an outstanding safety and electro-thermal performance, mainly for off-road devices (construction site vehicles) and waterborne transport (maritime passenger vessels). BATSS consortium will develop, up to TRL5, the different thermal, electric and mechanical innovations to meet (and improve) the industry use cases performance and safety requirements, guided by the SbD approach and supported by cutting edge modelling and simulation tools for the battery system design and predictive maintenance functionalities of the Battery Management System (BMS). Last, but not least, the end of life (EoL) step will be under the scope through (i) the modular concept enabling easier assembly-disassembly of used battery systems, (ii) the data-supported automated disassembly techniques, and (iii) the exploration of battery system second life in a semi-stationary product.