Sister Projects

The OPINCHARGE project focuses on advancing the understanding and optimisation of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). It exemplifies European collaboration between diverse experts and organisations, integrating cutting-edge science and innovation, primarily to revolutionise battery technology for a greener and more sustainable future.

By fostering partnerships among European projects, research centers, academy, scientific community, battery industry, and local communities, the OPINCHARGE project aims to:

gain a deeper understanding of the interfacial phenomena,
improve the design and functionality of LIBs,

both leading to safer, more efficient, and longer-lasting battery systems across Europe.

Contact information

Project coordinator:
Santhana Eswara Moorthy, santhana.eswara@list.lu

OPERA

Green, safe and high-performing batteries based on abundant materials are a key element in the transition to a carbon-neutral future. So-called zero excess solid-state batteries are one of the most promising technologies that meets these criteria.

For their development, the processes within the battery need to be understood on a fundamental level. Therefore, in OPERA, state-of-the-art experimental and computational methods are combined to gain these insights by partners from all over Europe.

The consortium includes seven leading research institutes, two synchrotron radiation facilities, a small-medium sized enterprise and a large technological company, all from complementary research fields. They proposed a unique strategy to face the challenges of this technology. It relies on the development of novel experimental techniques with a resolution down to the atomic scale. They provide information on multiaxial stress fields, chemical composition, nucleation and growth kinetics, structural defect formation and degradation of model cells. These insights are used for a novel multiscale modelling approach supported by machine-learning algorithms.

The project goals ultimately lead to a deep conceptual understanding and innovative improvement approaches for this type of energy storage technology. This will be an important step towards increasing the global competitiveness, resilience, and independence of the EU.

ULTRABAT

Despite decades of research, a persistent fundamental knowledge gap prevents batteries from fulfilling their potential, because the atomistic mechanisms of charge and ion transfer across interfaces in batteries remain largely unexplored by experimental techniques. When charges move, the local arrangement of atoms changes in response to the new electronic configuration. How these changes occur has a significant impact on how efficiently and how far the charges can move, yet the time and length scales are still poorly understood. Conventional experimental probes used in battery research cannot provide the needed ultrafast time and atomic length scale resolution, nor sensitivity to changes in electronic configuration around specific atomic species. Hence, it is currently challenging to unravel the dynamic rearrangement of atoms and ions which accompany electron transfer, and in turn govern the charge transfer processes.

UltraBat will close this knowledge gap by pushing further the latest development of ultra-bright and ultra-fast X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) scattering and spectroscopy techniques together with visible ultrafast spectroscopy to study charge transfer between different redox centres in Li-rich layered intercalation compounds and at the solid/liquid interface. Advances in NMR spectroscopy will reveal local ordering and lithium interfacial dynamics on the nanometer scale. Coupled with predictions of experimental observables from a new framework for atomic-scale simulations of the electrochemical interface and transport mechanisms, we will reveal phenomena driving diffusion of ions in complex electrode materials. This will provide the insight required for transformational approaches to control the redox reactions (e.g. electron transfer) that are common to many energy-related processes, including batteries, photovoltaics, and water-splitting systems.

Subscribe to the OPINCHARGE Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter. Join our community of researchers, industry professionals, and battery enthusiasts. Be the first to receive exciting updates. Stay informed about the latest advancements in battery science and technology.