VARTA Micro Innovation GmbH (VMI), with registered office in Graz (AUT), is a joint venture between the battery manufacturer VARTA Microbattery (Ellwangen, DE) and Graz University of Technology (AUT). The business purpose of VARTA Micro Innovation GmbH is R&D in the area of electrochemical energy storage systems.

Within VARTA Micro Innovation both, the industrial fabrication know how from VARTA Microbattery and the basic research know how from Graz University of Technology for various electrochemical energy storage systems are merged together. This unique configuration enables VARTA Micro Innovation to perform a fast transfer of newly developed technologies into production state. The R&D activities of VMI are divided in three main research areas:

• Lithium Power - Improvement of specific energy (Wh*kg^-1) and energy density (Wh*l^-1)

• Heat Power – Enlargement of the temperature operation range

• Rapid Power – Improvement of the rate capability

VARTA Micro Innovation is highly experienced in research, reverse engineering and ordered analysis in the area of lifetime prediction and reliability of Li-Ion Batteries for different application fields (e.g. EV, storage etc.). VARTA Micro Innovation has also many years of experience in working with high capacity negative electrode materials for lithium ion batteries. This work includes on the one hand basic research of high capacity electrode materials as well as electrode fabrication and construction of batteries with these materials on prototype level.

Main tasks within Sintbat:

Based on the distinguished Know-how in the field of retro engineering, electrode fabrication and testing of electrochemical energy sources, the main contributions of VARTA Micro Innovation are located in WP2 and WP5. In these work packages VARTA Micro Innovation will benchmark and evaluate commercial available cells with silicon-based anode materials. The benchmarking and testing of the batteries includes electrochemical testing by use of constant current cycling, impedance spectroscopy, and also invasive testing methods, like the implementation of a reference electrode into the cell to observe the anode and cathode behaviour under the predicted cycling stress, are envisaged. The gained experience should help to understand and overcome the current limitations of commercial used high capacity negative electrode materials and slip into the implementation process in WP5. Also a validation of commercially available silicon-based materials for the use as high capacity negative electrode materials will be done and result in the selection of a material which is able to fulfil the project requirements. In close cooperation with the other partners the right electrode structure and composition will be chosen and test and demonstrator cells will be built and continuously evaluated. A constant feedback will be given to the project partners.