AMAPOLA will foster the developments achieved in the FET-Open SALBAGE project, towards real applications and towards market. The focus will be put in turning the promising research results obtained in SALBAGE into genuine technological innovations demonstrating that Al-S based batteries can have a place in certain market niches as a new future technology on batteries. The project is founded in the combination of sulfur and aluminium in a battery, what is especially attractive because of the very high abundance of both elements. The Al-S cell has the potential to store very high energy, and very high prospective values of energy density of 660 Wh/l and specific energy of 400 Wh/kg are calculated at a cell level, taking advantage of the incorporation of novel solid Polymer Gel Electrolytes (PGEs) based on novel highly conductive and inexpensive Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) for a cheaper, lighter, tougher and safer battery concept. In AMAPOLA project the focus will be put in: 1- further develop the materials proposed in SALBAGE with special emphasis in (i) the preparation of controlled-phase gel electrolytes from highly conductive novel DES; (ii) the development of advanced cathode formulations to achieve high sulfur loading and high sulfur utilisation in the cathode in combination with new promising redox mediators and (iii) strategies to overcome the presence of oxide layer in the aluminium anode. 2- in up-scaling and extrapolation towards real application 3- pre-industrialization and market aspects. To succeed in the high demanding tasks, most part of the former consortium that have shown outstanding competence and remarkable level of commitment in SALBAGE is present in AMAPOLA together with a world recognised battery company and an SME expert in IPR managent and transfer to market.

The ambition of INSTABAT is to monitor in operando key parameters of a Li-ion battery cell, in order to provide higher accuracy States of Charge, Health, Power, Energy and Safety (SoX) cell indicators, and thus allowing to improve the safety and the Quality, Reliability and Life (QRL) of batteries. To achieve this goal, INSTABAT will develop a proof of concept of smart sensing technologies and functionalities, integrated into a battery cell and capable of: • performing reliable in operando monitoring (time- and space-resolved) of key parameters (temperature and heat flow; pressure; strain; Li+ concentration and distribution; CO2 concentration; “absolute” impedance, potential and polarization) by means of: (i) four embedded physical sensors (optical fibers with Fiber Bragg Grating and luminescence probes, reference electrode and photo-acoustic gas sensor), (ii) two virtual sensors (based on electro-chemical and thermal reduced models), • correlating the evolution of these parameters with the physico-chemical degradation phenomena occurring at the heart of the battery cell, • improving the battery functional performance and safety, thanks to enhanced BMS algorithms providing in real-time higher accuracy SoX cell indicators (taking the measured and estimated parameters into consideration). Main results will be: (1) proof of concept of multi-sensor platform (cell prototype equipped with physical/virtual sensors, and associated BMS algorithms providing SoX cell indicators in real-time); (2) demonstration of higher accuracy for SoX cell indicators; (3) demonstration of improvement of cell functional performance and safety through two use cases for EV applications; (4) techno-economic feasibility study (manufacturability, adaptability to other cell technologies...). INSTABAT smart cells will open new horizons to improve cell use and performances (e.g. by reducing ageing, allowing the decrease of safety margins, triggering self-healing, facilitating second life, etc.).

Acceleration of growth of the battery sector is primordial in decarbonizing our economy as batteries play a vital role not only in making our mobility sustainable but also in increasing the uptake of renewable energies. Growth and particularly innovation in this sector are predominantly hindered by costly and time-consuming test protocols and methods that require large number of samples and sophisticated infrastructure. A battery concept generated in 2023 may at best reach the production stage in 2032 as performance, ageing and safety characteristics of the design must be assessed through a lengthy trial-and-error based physical testing. THOR aims to shorten this timeframe, diminish the number of physical tests and nurture innovation in battery conception by developing a virtual tool - a Digital Twin that simulates battery behavior. The project will target mobility and stationary applications and will focus on commonly used battery chemistries (representing 60% market share before 2030). Through an interdisciplinary approach involving experimentalists and modeling experts, 3 independent physics-based models for performance, lifetime and safety will be developed. The 3 models will then be combined and optimized using AI based approach to form a holistic digital twin of cell, module and pack. The digital twin will be accessible to the end-users through an efficient, user-friendly interface. THOR’s consortium covering the entire battery value chain will ensure that the project responds to the needs of battery industries (4 industrial partners including cell/ battery manufacturers and end-users) while enriching knowledge of the research community (3 research and technical organizations). In addition, the consortium aims to answer two requirements of the battery community: data harmonization and standardization of methodologies through the project. Ease-of-use, cost-effectiveness, rapidity and adaptability of the Digital Twin will be demonstrated by end-users.

After the successful project Sintbat, this project aims to continue the effort with the modified objectives of LC-BAT-2-2019. This new call moves the focus to a new KPI, the cycle related costs per energy: €/kWh/cycle. It very well reflects the real need of the customers if a minimum volumetric energy density is added. An extended LCA, cradle-to-grave will be setup to judge the environmental impact of the different options and to choose the best. To show the both ECO-aspects (ECOlogical and ECOnomical) of our project the acronym ECO²LIB was created. Especially for the deployment of advanced battery systems, time to market is an important factor. This criterion is helpful to select between the different electrochemical systems: - Lithium-Sulphur: is heavily investigated, but up to now doesn’t show a break-through to reach acceptable cycle life - Lithium-Air: For this system, many major problems are known to be solved, like Li metal protection, dendrite growth, cleaned air inlet, oxygen-stability of the catholyte - Zinc-Air: is better, but this system, as all Metal-Air systems, will never lead to a maintenance-free battery - All-Solid-State: has a chance in the polymer version, but rather not in oxidic or sulfidic version - Sodium-Ion: can be potentially interesting for large-scale storage due to cost advantages (replacing Cu with Al), but is still held back due to the lack of a useful and stable anode material and a complex surface chemistry - Organic-based systems: can be potentially interesting for large-scale storage due to potential sustainability impacts, but have problems regarding energy density (especially volumetric), cycling stability, and materials degradation Consequently, the consortium decided to continue the improvement of the well-established Lithium-Ion system with advanced materials, methods and corresponding recycling-concept. So it will be possible to directly exploit the results of ECO²LIB in an IPCEI project, which is under preparation.

Lithium-ion technology is the means to greener and more sustainable mobility and other mobile applications, but the process of cell manufacturing is still energy consuming and using environmentally harmful substances. The greenSPEED project offers solutions for new sustainable electrode and cell manufacturing processes with reduced energy consumption, lower carbon footprint and ZERO Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions. To that aim, the project main target is developing a battery cell comprised of electrodes manufactured by innovative dry processes. Our composite cathode, based on Ni-rich NMC, is to be manufactured by scalable roll-to-roll dry electrode coating process, that fully removes the use of casting-solvents and eliminates the need of energy-intense drying-, condensate and transportation process required in state-of-the-art electrode fabrication. The greenSPEED high-capacity pure-silicon anode is to be manufactured taking full advantage of our innovative process based on Microwave-Assisted Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (MW-PECVD), which deposits porous silicon directly on the copper current-collector starting from locally produced silane gas (SiH4). Moreover, the use of advanced modelling and simulation techniques including digital twins, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are to be employed to predict and optimise cell performance in early development stages, support the cell production process by virtually assessing the influence and importance of production parameters and thus minimising the number of experiments and to accelerate electrode production optimisation steps. The greenSPEED cell aims at increasing energy density (+69%) while reducing energy consumption (-32%) and costs (-21%) of production as compared to state-of-the-art Li-ion cells. The concepts here proposed have been already demonstrated at TRL 2/3 with the aim of reaching TRL 5/6 by the end of the project.