Center for Particle Technology

The Fraunhofer IPA has decades of experience in the field of surface technology and combines these competencies at the Center for Particle Technology, further integrating the specialized departments of Cleanroom and Microproduction as well as the Center for Additive Manufacturing. This systematically interdisciplinary approach covers the entire process chain of particle technology, from developing scientific fundamentals to application in industrial environments.

In this application center, manufacturers, users, and researchers from Fraunhofer IPA come together for interdisciplinary exchange. Here, existing techniques can be improved with IPA as a supporting research institution, and new techniques can be tested under production-like conditions in existing and newly established laboratory and pilot plant facilities. The research questions relate to relevant topics in the manufacturing and processing of particles, the necessary occupational safety, energy and resource efficiency, and environmental protection.

The main focus areas are application-oriented consulting, process comparisons, and fundamental research projects on:

- Basic processes for powders and casting materials, equipment construction, and process components,
- Packaging and filling,
- Nanoparticle technology,
- Measurement, control, automation, digitization, Industry 4.0-related topics
- Safety and environmental technology, explosion protection, and
- Quality control, assurance, and management.

Powder Application Technology in Roll-to-Roll Process

In the production of electrodes for electrochemical energy storage, coating the current collectors is a central process. Materials previously used require energy-intensive drying and release health- and environmentally hazardous solvents. The powder coating technology based on the TransApp® process eliminates this hazard potential and offers additional advantages.

Numerous customer-specific tests conducted at the Fraunhofer IPA pilot plant with the partner company TransApp-GmbH, Austria, demonstrate the very good coating results of this gunless powder application process: The processes of pretreatment, powder application, baking, and cooling can be significantly shortened, leading to energy and cost savings.

Against this background, at IPA, within the framework of the research project Elibama (European Li-Ion Battery Advanced Manufacturing), a gunless application technology for electrostatic deposition of the dry-blend functional material onto the current collector foil was developed.

For the drying requirements, Fraunhofer IPA employs an infrared temperature treatment technology using short- and medium-wave gas- and electrically operated radiators. Application-oriented adjustments of coil coating processes are often developed in collaboration with the partner institute CRM in Liège, Belgium. Using a modified technique, electrodes for energy storage cells are produced at pilot scale through a roll-to-roll powder coating process in Stuttgart.

Further Information

Cudazzo, M.; Hubrich, C. (2019): Liquid-filled microcapsules for powder coating. In: Better Coating 21 (5), p. 6.
Cudazzo, M.; Pulli, K. (2018): Gunless powder coating. In: Better Coating 20 (18), p. 6.
Cudazzo, M.; Joachimi, C. (2019): Heat conduction in powder coating. In: Better Coating 21 (19), p. 6.
Landwehr, I. (2018): Electrode manufacturing with powder coating. In: Better Coating 20 (11), p. 6.
Schälicke, G. et al (2020): Solvent-Free Manufacturing of Electrodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries via Electrostatic Coating. In: Energy Technology 8 (2), Art. No. 1900309, 8 pages.
Poster »Functional Layers for Electrochemical Storage and Converters«.