In April 2022 the LiSTAR project welcomed a team led by Professor Alex Roberts from Coventry University into the consortium to increase its cell fabrication capability. The unique expertise of Professor Roberts will allow researchers across LiSTAR to test their developments in a pouch cell format, allowing improved confidence in the commercial potential of the research that has been demonstrated in coin cells.

Significant research progress has been made by LiSTAR since 2019 in several areas including cathode, electrolyte and additive development with the team at Coventry offering the ability to examine the impact of these breakthroughs in pouch cells with capacities in excess of 2 Ah. Alongside this activity the team at Coventry are also producing new cathodes for the consortium to standardise the components are used in the R&D activities.

The initial pouch cells fabricated in Coventry will be used by:

• The team led by Associate Professor Nuria Garcia-Araez at Southampton investigating promising Li-S electrolytes,
• Dr Monica Marinescu’s team at Imperial who will use the information from the more industrially relevant pouch cells to validate their Li-S specific battery models, and
• The cell engineering work package led by Professor Dan Brett at UCL to develop diagnostics for Li-S cells at both a cell and module level.

This new capability will ensure the developments achieved within the LiSTAR projects can be demonstrated at a scale with direct industrial relevance, increasing the impact of the work undertaken in the project.

Image: An optical microscope image showing the formation of Li-metal dendrites during Li-S cell cycling captured by Faraday Institution Research Fellow Rhodri Owen, UCL

Case study published December 2022.