COATED is a collaborative industrial research project which aims to demonstrate a novel current collector in commercially viable lithium-ion battery pouch cells. The project includes a significant element of stakeholder engagement and techno-economic assessment to accelerate commercialisation with the identified supply chain.

Awaiting Public Project Summary

The ability to produce coatings of a few nanometres where both the fine structure as well as composition determines the desired effect, has proved crucial for making modern devices like mobile phones and electronic tablets. However, there is presently no easily scalable method to produce relatively thick films e.g. of a couple of millimetres with structural and compositional control at the atomic level. The Virtual Cathode Deposition (VCD) approach pioneered by Plasma App has the potential to bridge this technology gap, and thus open-up new possibilities in device manufacture of the next generation of clever 'widgets'. Our vision here is to use VCD to provide thick-film manufacturing with an exciting new palette of graphene- type materials and layered structures. To test this, we will focus on the challenge of fabricating electrodes up to several mm thick for thermoelectric devices (they convert a heat-gradient directly into electrical power) where the preservation of nanostructuring in the active material is a major goal. This would provide the UK with an advanced technology to convert waste heat into useful power.

Plasma App Ltd. and The University of Southampton are Partnering to deliver a project - Feasibility of a Novel Low Cost Technique to Deposit Chalcogenides; under Innovate UK’s HVM call. Our project aims to unite a novel non-toxic form of chalcogenide material – gallium-lanthanum-sulphide (GLS) – pioneered in the UK by University of Southampton with an equally novel virtual cathode pulsed-electron beam deposition technology (VCD) developed by Plasma App. If successful, our project will be able to provide UK industry with a commercially scalable capability to deposit high quality, cost effective thin and thick films made from this exciting next-generation optical material. The films have a wide range of applications in sensing, process control, medical and communications and will bring benefit to many areas that directly impact the general public – including in the areas of healthcare, pharmaceutical drugs and security.

Increasing demand for small, low cost, powerful batteries with increased battery calendar life is driving developments in the thin film Solid State Battery (SSB) market. Rechargeable liquid lithium-ion batteries are currently the most popular battery for portable electronic devices, however, their use is limited due to concerns over overheating and demand for increased battery life. In thin film SSB, liquid electrolyte is replaced by solid electrolyte material which offers the potential for increased energy density, and hence improved battery performance, and increased safety. However, the SSB market is still in its infancy and manufacturing technologies currently do not meet the market requirements, with prices significantly higher than liquid lithium-ion alternatives and overall poor battery performance. Plasma App Limited, experts in film deposition, has identified an opportunity to develop a novel Virtual Cathode Deposition technology for the manufacture of highly efficient SSBs at a commercially attractive price, addressing market requirements. This feasibility project aims to optimise an innovative deposition technique to enable the cost effective production of SSBs.