Hosokawa Micron Offers Li-ion Battery Manufacturing & Recycling Solutions

The group of companies, based in Augsburg, Germany, has created the brand "On." "On,” which stands for the energy and power behind the project, identifies a new product line for production of energy performance materials systems such as li-ion batteries.

"Various technologies play a key role in the production of lithium-ion batteries for which we have extensive know-how in the Hosokawa Micron Group," explains Marco Hauk, team leader for the project and vice president, Powder Segment at Hosokawa Alpine.

Hosokawa Alpine's Chemical Division is a specialist in processing cathode materials; the Minerals Division has extensive experience in processing anode material; and the Recycling Division focuses on in-house and end-of-life recycling. Combining these divisions offers a complete solution for li-ion battery manufacturing and recycling.

Hosokawa Micron B.V. in the Netherlands specializes in drying and mixing as well as coating. There is vast experience in processing lithium carbonate from salars at Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems in the USA, in containment at Hosokawa Micron Ltd. in the UK, and in bulk & material handling at Hosokawa Solids in Germany and Spain.

Material grinding using the ACM-BC in a ceramic design is a core competence of the Japanese Hosokawa Micron Corp.

"It was an obvious decision for us to pool together these versatile competences for our customers and unite this power in the new brand On", Hauk explained.

"Today, manufacturers are striving to create compact batteries with high energy density, fast charging times and a long service life. We want to help our customers meet these requirements in the most effective way possible," added Hauk.

To this end, On supports customers in material development and the perfection of raw and active materials from the supply of complete production facilities and systems all the way to recycling – as a 360-degree offer from laboratory to production scale.

The DMR Flash dryer from Hosokawa Micron B.V. makes it possible to dry active materials and achieve final moisture content levels of less than one percent. The ultra-fine grinding process for active powders creates smaller particles with a larger surface area in the next step. This ensures optimum battery performance.

The special milling solutions from Hosokawa Alpine AG are the classifier mill ACM and the fluidized bed opposed jet mill AFG. Mixers with high-shear force are used for the final coating of electrode materials. The Cyclomix paddle mixer, the Modulomix modular paddle mixer or the Nauta conical screw mixer from Hosokawa Micron B.V. ensures a homogeneous mixture of materials as well as the optimum coating with carbon black and binders.

Hosokawa Alpine’s APR (Alpine Particle Rounder) rounds natural graphite. For grinding and rounding synthetic graphite or petroleum coke, the Zirkoplex ZPS classifier mill will do the trick.

Hosokawa Alpine has developed a process that grinds active material scrap during the first step. The Rotoplex cutting mill is operated with inert gas both for safety reasons and to protect the material. After pre-grinding with the Rotoplex, Hosokawa Alpine offers various solutions for delaminating the aluminium or copper film to detach the cathode or anode material from the film base. Depending on the process, almost all the active material can be fed back into the process.