Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films ISTFour new competence clusters within the BMBF “Forschungsfabrik Batterie” umbrella concept
The German government wants to sustainably strengthen battery research in Germany along the entire value chain, to accelerate the transfer into industrial applications and to support the development of battery-cell production in Germany.
Within the framework of the umbrella concept “Forschungsfabrik Batterie” (Battery Research Factory), four new competence clusters will contribute towards this. Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek presented the clusters during a press conference on 8th July 2020. The focal points are “Intelligent battery-cell production”, “Recycling and green batteries”, “Battery utilization concepts” and “Analysis and quality assurance”. The representatives of the first two clusters mentioned above were present live via video chat: Prof. Jürgen Fleischer from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) for “Intelligent battery-cell production” and the Director of the Fraunhofer IST, Prof. Christoph Herrmann, in his function as Director of the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology (IWF) / Sustainable Manufacturing & Life Cycle Engineering at the Technische Universität Braunschweig for the focal point “Recycling and green batteries”.
The BMBF is investing a total of around 100 million euros in the funding of the competence clusters, in which more than 40 research institutions are involved, including the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST. During the last few weeks and months, researchers from the IST and the Battery LabFactory (BLB) of the TU Braunschweig, in collaboration with further partners from Lower Saxony, have been working intensively on sketches and requests and have taken on the challenge of the nationwide competition.
The Fraunhofer IST is introducing its competencies in the field of life cycle engineering into the “Recycling and green batteries” cluster. In this field of competence, the systematic design of battery life cycles is addressed: “The objective of our cluster is the creation of a basis for sustainable battery storage. We want to bring together technologies, methods and tools which will allow us to design the entire life cycle - from the cradle to the grave - in an energy and material-efficient manner and, at the same time, to close cycles so that, ultimately, old batteries can be used to produce new batteries again,” explains Professor Herrmann.
The clusters are scheduled to be launched in October 2020.
Information from the BMBF on this topic can be found here:
https://www.bmbf.de/de/karliczek-deutschland-ist-heute-wieder-hotspot-12069.html
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