SIMBA aimed to develop a cost-effective, safe, all-solid-state sodium battery for stationary energy storage. The project’s key goals were to create safer batteries using a novel Solid-State Electrolyte (SSE) and single-ion conducting polymers (SIPEs), paired with high-energy anodes and low-cost, high-energy cathode materials. It also sought to understand degradation at the Solid-Electrolyte Interface (SEI) and integrate these components into scalable, eco-friendly production processes. Additionally, the project aimed to design and test a 12V, 1Ah battery module to validate material reuse, recyclability, and performance.
Over 42 months, despite challenges, the SIMBA team met most of the project’s objectives. Work packages (WP) 1, 2, and 3, which focused on KPIs, use cases, material reuse, electrolyte, anode and cathode development, and transport mechanisms, were fully completed. WP7 and WP8, covering dissemination, data management, and project coordination, were also fully realized.
WP4 was critical for bridging materials to the final battery system. It involved optimizing electrode and cell assembly, from baseline to solid-state cells. While the target capacity of 1Ah for solid-state cells wasn’t fully reached, smaller cells with 0.1Ah capacity were manufactured and tested, achieving 60% of this goal. Prismatic cells weren’t produced, but smaller versions met 90% of the objective.
WP5, focusing on cell performance testing and module design, faced significant delays due to the Ukraine war and transportation issues, with only one batch of aged cells reaching the partner YUN. Due to power outages, the target of 1,500 test cycles wasn’t met, and safety testing at WMG was limited, achieving about 90% of WP5’s goals. WP6, related to material recovery from solid-state cells, was not fully met.
Overall, SIMBA’s objective of integrating cell components and designing scalable production processes was 80-90% complete. The system design objective for a 12V, 1Ah battery module with BMS, aimed at validating recyclability and performance, reached about 60-70%. Meanwhile, objectives O1, O2, and O3 were fully accomplished.
The main progress towards the objectives of maximising the dissemination of the results, promote the project findings and contribute to the visibility of and synergies has been in maintaining the high level of visibility through the website and newsletters and in the participation of different partners in conferences and through the publication of papers.
