Uppsala University Leads Broad Battery Collaboration for Green Transition
This gathering place is needed to be able to coordinate and strengthen the entire battery area, says Daniel Brandell, professor of material chemistry at Uppsala University and coordinator for BASE.
The national competence center BASE started in the spring of 2020 under the leadership of Kristina Edström, professor of inorganic chemistry at Uppsala University. It is the latest of several important assignments for the battery researcher, who also coordinates the EU initiative Battery 2030+ and the battery platform COMPEL.
BASE includes 18 industrial partners, including ABB, Volvo, Scania and Northvolt, as well as four parties from academia: Uppsala University, Chalmers, KTH and the research institute RISE.
The goal is concrete products
The battery value chain includes everything from mining, materials, battery production, battery use to recycling. The long-term hope is that the collaborative projects within BASE will lead to concrete products, says Daniel Brandell.
Until 2024, 19 collaborative projects have been started. Within the projects, research is conducted to produce new materials, above all for anode, cathode and electrolyte, but also for sensors and new methods for analyzing and modeling batteries. All of this is required to create durable and long-lasting batteries that can store a lot of energy.
In addition, the reactions between the materials must be kept stable while the batteries must be able to be charged quickly. Its a challenge.
Cheap and durable materials
In a project where Uppsala University and the companies Altris and ABB have collaborated, the focus is on new and safer electrolytes for batteries.
During 2023, among other things, electrolytes for sodium-ion batteries have been investigated. These batteries contain materials that are both cheaper and more environmentally sustainable than the ones we have in our electric cars today, says Daniel Brandell.
In addition, we are working with new recycling techniques for batteries to increase the recycling rate. It also needs to be done so that we can create a circular economy.
Skills in high demand
According to Daniel Brandell, the battery field is moving incredibly fast, which is extremely important for the transition that Sweden and the whole world is undergoing.
Sweden is well situated, we are a large producer of lithium-ion batteries, which will actually be able to contribute to the green transition and change the Swedish industrial landscape.
At the same time, the lack of skills is glaring in Sweden. There, BASE can contribute with competence and know-how to bridge the transition, he believes.
BASE is a good and useful player when it comes to connecting industry and academia. The contacts we get and the networks we maintain by having the competence center create the conditions for successful applications, which means that we attract more resources to this important research area. And through BASE, we have managed to form battery Sweden around a hub and feel that we are doing good things together.