Author: Daniel Bosshard, R&D Engineer (Leclanché)

The rapid growth of electric mobility and renewable energy storage has placed lithium-ion batteries at the centre of Europe’s energy transition. As demand rises, ensuring that battery manufacturing is not only scalable but also resource-efficient and environmentally responsible has become a strategic priority for the EU. In fact, improving production processes, particularly in terms of energy consumption, material efficiency, and sustainability, is essential to strengthen Europe’s battery value chain and industrial competitiveness.

In this context,  BATMACHINE aims to enable more sustainable and resource‑efficient battery manufacturing in Europe. As a producer of lithium‑ion batteries, Leclanché contributes to the project by providing practical expertise in scaling battery production from laboratory development to industrial manufacturing.

Mixing in Battery Manufacturing – Leclanché’s role in the trials

Within the project scope, Leclanché focused on the assessment and optimisation of the mixing process during scale‑up. In this regard, new chemical formulations were evaluated using a NETZSCH mixing unit, allowing controlled testing of mixing strategies for different material systems. Experimental work was carried out at laboratory scale, prototype scale, and full production scale. Consequently, this ensured a realistic assessment of industrial feasibility. Figure 1 below illustrates the individual steps of a process trial using the NETZSCH mixing unit, from binder solution preparation to finished slurry and cell testing.

The studies included optimisation of mixing procedures with respect to process time and energy consumption. Moreover, Leclanché focused as well on the evaluation of their advanced PFAS-free and water-based battery chemistries,  such as NMC/NMCA cathodes and silicon‑graphite anode systems. Over the course of 10 weeks, the following trials have been performed: 3 NMCA cathode slurries w/o CNTs, 3 Anode slurries with silicon graphite w/o CNTs and 2 cathode mixing trials including ball mill for dispersion.

What’s next for BATMACHINE battery manufacturing

Leclanché role in BATMACHINE is of particular importance, since they are in charge of the scaling up of processes so far done in laboratory conditions. The knowledge gained is directly transferred into Leclanché’s product development, including a 62 Ah NMC cell and a 72 Ah NMCA cell, achieving cycle lives of up to 4,500 cycles. Through BATMACHINE, Leclanché strengthens the link between research innovation and robust, scalable battery manufacturing in Europe.

Fig.1:Slurry Mixing Process