Chemours opens EV battery lab at STAR Campus

NEWARK — Chemours unveiled its battery innovation center at the Discovery Hub at the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus, marking its latest investment in testing and scaling the manufacturing of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles.

The company did not disclose the exact cost for the research and development lab, but that it was a “multi-million dollar” investment to research technology to make batteries more accessible and affordable for the future. Ten employees would start developing electrodes on the batteries — using Chemours’ existing research from Teflon —as well as assist companies efforts to scale up production.

“What this center represents is bringing the voices from our value chain, our customers, the board and our regulators as well as the nation, together to work to make a brighter future,” Chemours President of Advance Performance Materials Gerardo Familiar said. “The truth is, the process of making a battery [for an EV] costs a lot of money. But there is an opportunity here for us to do things better, faster and bring together our phenomenal team and be a part of that change.”

Chemours’ battery center focuses on helping to scale processes to develop batteries for electric vehicles, including this machine to help smooth and compress electrodes. | DBT PHOTO BY KATIE TABELING

Part of that change is developing a dry electrode coating manufacturing process, which would reduce 75% costs in manufacturing.

In the past, lithium ion battery electrodes used a “wet” coating of solvents that are considered toxic and environmentally hazardous. Drying and solvent recovery systems involve expensive and large machines, which require a lot of electricity or gas to run.

But Chemours researchers are working on a “dry coating” process that uses a powder mix combined with a binder to reduce the materials in the battery process. At Chemours, the company uses Teflon as a binder during this process. Dry coating also means there is no need for large machines to dry the electrodes, saving space on a lab floor.

Right now, company officials are predicting that its lab processes can help reduce energy consumption by 47%— and battery energy density by 20%, or increase mileage by 150 miles.

“Some of our customers have different ways to achieve dry processing, even though they’re in the pilot stage,” Chemours Clean Energy Venture Leader Stefanie Kopchick told reporters on Monday. “What we have here is the replicant of that process with large-scale equipment so we can minimize how our customers may manufacture those electrodes and test it. We also have pouch cells that can help mimic commercial production, so when customers see that it matches their expectations, it helps the technology advance quicker.”

The push for EVs is still moving gradually forward, pushed by President Joe Biden’s move to hit more than half of cars on American roads to be zero-emission by 2030, and helped along by a similar rule made last fall by Gov. John Carney here. But that road is difficult to navigate as Chinese companies control most, if not all, of the stages in supply chains for EV batteries. 

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) acknowledged this delicate balance, noting that he worked to pass the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act in 2021 which established a federal committee to assess how the government can transition to a greener chemistry. 

“Chemistry can change our future, but we have to find a way to apply the skills and the disciplines and the insights of chemistry to also impact sustainability,” Coons said. “I’m grateful for the work of the hundreds of Delawareans who work here at the Discovery Hub, including the dozens of UD grads and people from more than 60 countries that are part of Chemours. I’m grateful for the work you do every day to make a brighter, cleaner and more sustainable future.”