The Berlin Battery Lab: Research into sodium-ion batteries

Brain City Berlin

Batteries made from readily available raw materials, safety built in from the start and short distances in Adlershof: in the Berlin Battery Lab (BBL), the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) are pooling their research into sodium-ion batteries. The aim is to bring new materials from the laboratory into industrial application more quickly. In this interview, Dr Björn Mieller of BAM explains what the BBL is researching and how companies can benefit from working with it.

The Berlin Battery Lab brings together BAM, HU Berlin and HZB, three very different institutions. How does this collaboration work in practice on a day-to-day basis?

Within the BBL, research projects are deliberately linked under the guiding theme of “sustainable battery materials” in order to make the most of synergies. Regular sharing of research results, close cooperation between the teams involved and the joint use of infrastructure, methods and large-scale equipment create very good conditions for turning scientific findings into application-oriented solutions efficiently. Each partner contributes its own strengths to the BBL, including extensive expertise in materials science, staff and financial resources, and modern laboratory and research infrastructure.

Sodium-ion batteries are regarded as a promising alternative to lithium-ion systems. What exactly makes them interesting, and in which areas could they play a role in future?

Sodium-ion batteries are of great interest above all because they are based on widely available raw materials. Compared with some of the materials needed for lithium-ion batteries, they also carry lower risks in terms of availability, price trends and geopolitical dependencies. At the same time, sodium-ion batteries have made considerable technological progress in recent years and now achieve performance levels that are already attractive for many applications, such as stationary energy storage or power tools.

Their advantage lies less in performance than in readily available raw materials, potentially lower costs and greater security of supply. They also perform better than lithium-ion batteries in some respects at low temperatures and in terms of safety. Sodium-ion batteries therefore offer particular potential wherever slightly lower energy density can be more than offset by economic or strategic advantages.

The BBL is designed as a materials and transfer lab. How does a new anode material make its way into production, and how does the BBL support this process?

The industrial manufacture of battery cells requires not only high-performance materials but also robust production processes that can be scaled up economically. Taking an innovative anode material as an example, this means that the underlying material properties and manufacturing processes must be understood well enough to transfer production from laboratory scale to industrial scale without compromising the material’s performance. This requires cooperation between the right partners, extensive technological expertise and the necessary investment. With the Berlin Battery Lab, we want to actively support this transfer by researching promising materials and technologies, training skilled specialists, encouraging exchange with industry and taking potential regulatory and safety issues into account early in the development process.

HZB operates BESSY II, a synchrotron radiation source. What can be studied with it that would not be possible in a normal laboratory?

Put simply, BESSY II gives us in the BBL a particularly detailed view inside battery materials. It produces very intense, finely adjustable X-ray radiation, which is used for scientific investigations at various measuring stations known as beamlines. Compared with conventional laboratory methods, measurements can often be carried out more quickly, with higher spatial resolution or under more realistic operating conditions. This is particularly valuable for battery research, as special test cells can be examined directly while they are charging and discharging. This helps us better understand the underlying processes in the materials and develop targeted approaches to further improve their performance and service life.

Safety aspects such as flammability and transport safety are a research field in their own right at BAM. What role do they play in bringing new battery technologies to market?

BAM is not only involved in research into battery materials and technical safety but also contributes its expertise to the development of norms, standards and approval procedures. By considering safety aspects early on during materials development, rather than addressing them only in later stages, potential challenges can be identified sooner and solutions developed in good time. This helps to make development processes more efficient and to speed up the transfer of innovative technologies into application.

The BBL is explicitly open to industrial partners from Germany and Europe. Which types of companies would benefit most from collaborating, and how can they get involved?

With the Berlin Battery Lab, we want to reach all companies that offer products, technologies or services for the development, manufacture and processing of battery materials. Opportunities for collaboration range from jointly applying for research and development projects and direct cooperation projects to contract research and scientific services. Our aim is to work with interested companies to identify the most suitable form of collaboration and so give the best possible support to the transfer of research results into industrial application.

With the BBL, Berlin is positioning itself as a location for sodium-ion research. What makes Brain City Berlin a suitable place for this kind of research?

Over the past few years, strong and independent research groups in the field of sustainable battery materials have become established at HZB, HU and BAM. Following joint collaborative projects, the logical next step was to pool this expertise in the Berlin Battery Lab and further develop our shared profile. A particular advantage is the partners’ close proximity: all three institutions have laboratories and facilities at the Adlershof Technology Park in south-east Berlin. At the same time, with young companies such as Theion, The Yellow SiC Group and Wolfram Chemie, Adlershof offers a dynamic environment that makes direct exchange between science and business easier. The short distances create good conditions for new networks and partnerships, and therefore also for turning research results into technological applications more quickly.

Are spin-offs from the BBL already planned or conceivable, and what is needed to make them happen?

Yes, a project on cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries is already being supported by the State of Berlin’s ProValid programme. Further spin-offs from the BBL would be an effective way of transferring research results into practice and are therefore something we are generally aiming for. Within the BBL, we are investigating material concepts that could in future also form the basis for new companies. At the same time, the challenges along the way should not be underestimated: alongside innovative ideas and robust research results, a strong network, suitable partners and sufficient investment are key success factors.

What personally motivated you to get involved in this project, and what do you hope the BBL will have achieved in five years?

I am particularly motivated by the opportunity to contribute to the energy transition and to Germany’s technological sovereignty through my research on sustainable battery materials. For the Berlin Battery Lab, I hope that the collaboration between the partners will become firmly established in the long term and that, in five years’ time, battery cells with materials from Berlin will have found their way into market-ready products.