Efficient separation of battery materials using remote laser cutting–high output performance, contour flexibility, and cutting edge quality

Nowadays, the market for electrical vehicles grows due to government funded projects. Consequently, the demand for high quality batteries rises as well. For increasing the output and quality of batteries, innovative production technologies and materials are needed. Note that one of these innovative technologies is remote laser cutting. Multiple advantages arise using remote laser cutting for sizing battery materials. A high rate of contour flexibility and cutting velocities of up to several hundred meters per minute is thus achievable. This research shows cutting velocities for foil materials up to 600 m/min. Next to the high cutting velocities, remote laser cutting produces less spatter formation, a consequence which increases the quality of the separation technology, constantly. The spatter formation occurring in the form of spherical melt attachments on the foil's top surface could pierce through the insulator and lead to short circuits. This research reveals that spatter formation could be reduced to less than 10 μm in diameter with choosing the correct process setup. In addition, the delamination at the cutting edge, another important quality aspect, is decreased to a value of 5 μm. In the future, different material compositions and laser wavelengths will be examined. Shorter laser wavelengths may provide a higher absorption, especially when copper foils are utilized as a current collector.