Hitachi uses AI to develop ‘optimal’ battery coating process

ELECTRONICS manufacturing firm Hitachi High-Tech, a subsidiary of Hitachi Global, has developed an AI-driven process to coat all-solid-state batteries, which are crucial components for smartphones and computers.

All-solid-state batteries are alternatives to the standard lithium-ion batteries that are made using solid electrode materials instead of liquid or gel electrolytes.

The batteries have been found to have a higher energy density than their lithium-ion counterparts, while also being potentially safer as it avoids the risk of leakage and thermal runaway.

However, these batteries do have the “resistive” challenge of degradation, and a wealth of expertise and trials have been done to find the optimal solution to coat the battery cathode to reduce the likelihood of degradation.

AI as a knowledge tool

To develop the optimal coating for cathode active materials, Hitachi said it had considered multiple factors, including material compositions, compatibility with solid electrolytes and equipment conditions.

The company worked with powder processing firm Powrex to develop coating methods using AI, which they have built with their respective expertise and knowledge on configuring and evaluating coatings.

Hitachi said: “Past investigations would have had to go through repeated trial and error while relying on highly specialised knowledge and experience.”

Speeding up the process

For the method, Hitachi used its X-ray fluorescence analysers and scanning electron microscopes technology in its demonstration, which it says streamlined the evaluation of coating methods, and gathered more data on different coatings.

Hitachi said: “As a result of the demonstration, we were able to determine the optimal coating conditions and confirm that this method would reduce development time and the time required for beginning mass production for particle coating, which is highly technically challenging.”

Looking to the future, the company said it would take to commercialising an optimal coating process proposal, and apply its AI-driven method beyond battery manufacturing and into the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and high-performance materials industries.