2.2. Laser cutting in lithium ion battery production Remote Laser cutting of conventional lithium-ion battery foil (NMC, NCA, LFP cathodes or graphite anodes) is a method widely discussed in the scientific landscape for separation of electrodes [Lee et al., 2013],[Luetke et al., 2011 // 2014],[Reincke et al., 2015].
The lithium sheets were placed on a flat sanded steel plate in focus level of the laser. In the cutting area the steel plate is grooved to avoid a reaction with respectively welding on the steel plate. For the cutting experiments lithium metal foils (Rockwood Lithium) with a thickness of 50 μm were applied.
Unfortunately, lithium metal anodes cannot be separated by conventional die cutting processes in large quantities. Due to its adhesive properties and toughness, mechanical cutting tools require intensive cleaning after each cut.
Summary and Future Work The presented work discussed experiments of laser cutting of electrode materials for the production of lithium ion cells. The experiments focused on the cutting edge quality. The cutting edge quality was investigated by evaluating the geometrical parameters in macroscopic cross sections.
However, remote laser cutting is not state of the art in a conventional lithium ion battery production line, even though it is a highly reproducible, wear-free and flexible cutting method.
Separating lithium metal foil into individual anodes is a critical process step in all-solid-state battery production. With the use of nanosecond-pulsed laser cutting, a characteristic quality-decisive cut edge geometry is formed depending on the chosen parameter set.