LInspector™ Edge In-Line Mass Profilometer Will Improve Battery Performance

To address the needs of the rapidly growing battery market, Thermo Fisher Scientific introduced the Thermo Scientific™ LInspector™ Edge In-line Mass Profilometer, which delivers full-width electrode mass loading measurement and provides battery manufacturers with the data needed to make better, safer batteries, more efficiently. The LInspector Edge analyzer introduces the next generation of metrology capabilities through a new analytical technique, in-line mass profilometry, measuring complete edge-to-edge coating profiles in milliseconds with unprecedented resolution and precision.

Uniform, defect-free coatings are essential for superior battery performance, for the attainment of higher charge densities, faster recharge times, longer operational lifetime, and better reliability. Traditional in-line coating weight measurement gauges use a single spot sensor traversing across the electrode sheet to assess coating quality, but several meters of electrode are produced in the time it takes to complete a single profile scan and much of the electrode goes unmeasured. In contrast, the LInspector Edge In-line Mass Profilometer measures the entire electrode in real-time, at full production speed offering more complete insights for battery manufacturers.  

“Superior batteries, particularly for electric vehicles, are critical to society’s planned transition to clean energy,” said Miguel Faustino, president of Chemical Analysis at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We are committed to providing battery manufacturers with analytical technology to meet this challenge and are excited to be able to offer this significant step forward in quality assurance capabilities. The LInspector Edge In-line Mass Profilometer sets a new benchmark for electrode coating analysis and provides a foundation for higher performance batteries, reduced risk to quality, better process control, and more profitable operation.” 

Thanks to a greater insight into mass loading of active material on the coating edges and a complete mapping of mass loading on the entire electrode, battery manufacturers can now benefit from previously unobtainable richness of data for production control and full traceability for each electrode patch, stripe, or roll, allowing them to meet increasingly stringent quality requirements for energy storage devices.  

In the past, the battery industry relied on industry standard coating weight scanning technologies, which typically only inspect the loading on a small fraction of the electrode surface area. According to an industry innovator and beta user, “Thermo Fisher Scientific's new technology enables the inspection of 100 percent of the area of all electrodes manufactured, eliminating blind spots in the data and reducing the risk of defects reaching the final product.” 

First in a new generation of battery process metrology tools, the LInspector Edge In-line Mass Profilometer is supported by the Thermo Fisher global network of experts.