R&D 100 winner of the day: RapidCure: High-Speed Electron Beam Processing of Battery Electrodesc

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High-Speed Electron Beam Processing is a low-cost, environmentally benign, and low-carbon-footprint process for producing thick Li-ion battery electrodes. This novel manufacturing approach eliminates the use of the solvent, a toxic volatile organic compound, and the high-molecular-weight material used in the traditional PVFD/NMP manufacturing method. The NMP solvent is expensive and toxic and requires a costly solvent recovery process. In this technology, the electron beam serves as the energy source to chemically polymerize and crosslink small molecules into high-molecular-weight polymers. This technology can further decrease the battery cost and thus make them more affordable to consumers. This will improve the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of lithium-ion battery use in electric vehicles, power tools, and consumer electronics. Ateios Systems has licensed the technology from ORNL for solvent-free battery component production using radiation curing.