Blackstone Resources presented its manufacturing process for lithium-ion batteries from the 3D printer at an event at its plant in Döbeln, Saxony. In this context, the plant for series production was also started up.

The event and production takes place at Blackstone Technology, the German subsidiary of the Swiss holding company Blackstone Resources AG. Due to the corona situation, however, the press conference had to be broadcast online.

Blackstone presented the LFP cells it announced in February in detail. With the cathode material from IBU-Tec from Weimar, the LFP cells are now being produced in Döbeln in the Central Saxony region using a new 3D printing process. According to the company, this means that the electricity storage layers of the battery cells can become thicker, and the energy density should be 20 percent higher - Blackstone calls this "Thick Layer Technology". Specifically, Blackstone announced here 220 Wh / kg. For comparison: The blade batteries from the Chinese manufacturer BYD, which are viewed as technologically advanced LFP cells, are expected to reach 166 Wh / kg at the cell level .

Blackstone also states that the size of the cells can be flexibly tailored to customer requirements with the process - a car manufacturer with a battery pack built into the underbody has different requirements here than the manufacturer of an e-bus that mounts the batteries on the vehicle roof. Blackstone puts the space savings at 15 percent and the material savings at 20 euros / kWh. And energy consumption in production is 23 percent lower. Blackstone starts with LFP and NMC cells, but the technology should be applicable to all cell chemistries. Blackstone also wants to be able to print solid-state batteries - with solid-state technology, the energy density should then increase by another 70 percent.

Ulrich Ernst, founder and CEO of Blackstone Resources, describes the batteries produced using 3D printing as a "game changer". "We can thus achieve a 20 percent increase in the energy density of our load carriers while at the same time drastically reducing environmental impacts," says Ernst. “The patented process is based on an environmentally friendly, purely water-based process and reduces waste by 50 percent. In this way, we are making an important and sustainable contribution to the traffic transition and the fight against climate change. "

As part of the event, not only was the cell presented, but series production of the electrode was also started. The targeted production capacity of 500 MWh is to be achieved at the site as early as next year . The long-term goal is the production of battery cells every second, says Holger Gritzka, Managing Director of Blackstone Technology. The vision: "With a single machine park, we can print cells in various shapes, various electrodes and electrolyte materials on a large scale quickly and inexpensively."

There are currently 14 employees in Döbeln, and the plan is to expand to 38 in the coming year. The German subsidiary Blackstone Technology built the production facility in an existing building to save time. According to Gritzka, the property not only won over it with its size and mint condition, but also with its location: Cities such as Leipzig, Chemnitz and Dresden are all very similarly distant, which should simplify the search for qualified employees.

By the way: The fact that the production start announced in February could not be kept in the summer was not due to the employees - rather, unsurprisingly, due to the corona pandemic: Due to delivery difficulties and restrictions, the production plant could only be completed with a three-month delay.

Not only Blackstone representatives appeared at the virtual event, but also partners such as Robert Orten from Orten Electric Trucks, Thomas Sautter from Voith, Benjamin Friedirch from Ecovolta and Michael Roscher from Liovolt. "The next step is the development of a battery system with our partner ecovolta. We are working on a project with Voith SE and Orten Electric Trucks to equip electrified e-buses with our battery technology," says Serhat Yilmaz, CMO at Blackstone Resources.

In addition, Blackstone is already working with his partner Liovolt on a further development, a bipolar battery. These are lithium-ion batteries that consist of stacked and series-connected electrodes that are designed to be bipolar. “This means that the active materials for the cathode and, on the other hand, the active materials for the anode are applied to a common electrode carrier,” explains Yilmaz.

In perspective, production is to be expanded beyond the 500 MWh of phase I: In his presentation, Gritzka also spoke of small series production. The second phase should have a capacity of five GWh per year and will also be built in Germany. Then, in addition to pouch cells, prismatic cells will also be manufactured. Phase III, an automotive cell with "10+ GWh / year", is to be implemented through an expansion in Germany and global expansion. However, Gritzka did not provide a schedule for phases II and III.