BatWoMan Podcast Episode 2: Mats Zackrisson

Katja and Theresa first talk about Katja’s background and how she discovered her passion for battery manufacturing. They then discuss upscaling and the aim of the BatWoMan project, which is to reduce emissions and production costs during the manufacturing of Li-ion batteries in order to support European battery cell manufacturing. The project includes various parts that tackle mostly the manufacturing of Li-ion batteries but also their lifetime. When speaking about the manufacturing steps that BatWoMan is trying to improve, Katja mentions highly viscuous electrode slurry, the replacement of NMP with water and the reduction dry room needs. Feel free to smurk when listening to how it took ages for Theresa to understand that the function of the dry room is not to dry something of water but just to keep things dry during production.

They talk about different battery chemistries of primary and secondary cells. Then Katja gives some insights into other research which is going on at AIT, including solid-state batteries. The conversation then centers back on the BatWoMan project and the specific steps during battery cell manufacturing that are tackled for emission and cost reduction, ranging from cheaper and less electrolyte to 3D-structured electrodes improving electrolyte filling. Last, the briefly touch the topic of a digital battery dataspace and passport as well as life cycle assessment but these are topics which Theresa will discuss in a lot more detail in the second episode when she talks to Mats Zackrisson.

For this third episode, Theresa was sitting down with Georgia Kastrinaki on a wonderful warm evening in a park in San Sebastian in Northern Spain. The two women travelled there for the third General Assembly meeting of the BatWoMan project. Georgia explains her work and her team’s contributions at CERTH (Center for Research and Technology Hellas) in Greece.

Georgia describes the technical process of creating battery electrodes, including challenges like managing volatile organic compounds and exploring water-based alternatives for a greener approach. She explains CERTH’s role in analyzing the microstructures of battery materials, which helps correlate structural features with performance and stability. Georgia also touches on her background and CERTH’s late entry into the project through the European “hop-on” program, which promotes collaboration with widening countries.