Page 623 - B2B All Year Round Vol.8

From Mine to Manufacture

Contamination in Li-ion Battery Raw Materials

Li-ion batteries have been a key enabling technology over the
last decade and are considered integral to EV (Electrical
Vehicle) development. The materials used in the production of
Li-ion batteries must be of high purity in order for the batteries
made from them to have the expected performance and
lifetime and also to prevent dangerous failures caused by
metallic particles penetrating isolating barriers.

Quality control and monitoring of materials throughout the
manufacturing process is crucial as even very small amounts of
contaminants can have catastrophic consequences. For the
metals used in batteries, the process starts at the mine with the
verification of the purity of the material which has been
produced. This material is typically transported to a materials
processing facility which creates the battery precursor material
which is in turn supplied to the battery manufacturing plant. In
this process there are several potential sources of
contamination, meaning that it is vital to verify if the materials
are contaminant-free at each stage.

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