Research
Sustainable Battery Materials – From Material Innovation to Industrialisation
For several years, Luleå University of Technology has developed a strong research environment in sustainable battery materials, with particular emphasis on bio-based electrodes, sustainable electrolytes and next-generation material concepts. Within RECAT, these research fields are further developed and integrated with research in battery-cell manufacturing. This creates knowledge covering the entire journey from material design and characterisation to industrial implementation. The research includes materials that can reduce the climate impact of batteries, limit resource consumption and decrease dependence on critical raw materials—while meeting demanding requirements for electrochemical performance, manufacturability and long-term sustainability. A central element is the development of multimodal operando methods for studying how battery materials develop and change during manufacturing and operation. By combining complementary characterisation techniques—including electrochemical measurements, spectroscopy, imaging and other in-situ and operando methods – RECAT creates a deeper understanding of the physical, chemical and electrochemical processes governing battery-cell performance. This approach enables physics-based models and data-driven methods that connect material properties with manufacturing processes and final cell performance. RECAT’s work does not end with demonstrating new materials at laboratory scale. It also investigates how materials affect, and are affected by, slurry preparation, coating, drying, calendering, electrolyte filling, formation and other manufacturing stages. This makes it possible to identify, during material development, the properties required for robust, resource-efficient and cost-effective industrialisation. By integrating material development, multimodal operando characterisation and intelligent process control, RECAT shortens the distance between fundamental materials research and industrial implementation.
Professor Faiz Ullah Shah — Chemical interfaces
Professor Kristiina Oksman — Wood and Bionanocomposites
Professor Xiaoyan Ji — Energy Engineering
Professor Andreas Larsson — Applied Physics
Professor Alberto Vomiero — Experimental Physics
Professor Oleg Antzutkin — Chemical interfaces
Professor Farid Akhtar — Materials Science
Senior Lecturer Michael Busch — Applied Physics
Assistant Professor Movaffaq Kateb — Experimental Mechanics
Visiting Lecturer Julian Self — Chemical interfaces
Polytechnique Montréal
Process Physics – Understanding the Fundamental Mechanisms of Battery-Cell Manufacturing
A central research profile within RECAT is the development of scientific understanding of the physical and chemical mechanisms governing battery-cell manufacturing. The objective is to establish a process-physics foundation that enables predictive development of future manufacturing processes, reducing reliance on empirical process recipes. The research covers the complete manufacturing chain—from slurry preparation and coating to drying, calendering, electrolyte filling and formation. It examines how material transport, phase transitions, pore formation, binder migration, mechanical stresses, heat transfer and electrochemical processes interact across multiple length and time scales. By combining experimental studies with multiscale modelling, RECAT develops an integrated understanding of how process parameters affect electrode microstructure and, consequently, battery-cell performance, safety and lifetime. Operando methods form an important part of this research. Advanced characterisation is combined with physics-based models to follow material development during manufacturing and operation. This enables model validation and the creation of digital process representations with a strong physical foundation. RECAT also develops multiscale models connecting molecular phenomena, microstructure, unit operations and complete production systems. Molecular dynamics, continuum models, computational fluid dynamics, finite-element methods and reduced-order models are integrated into a modelling chain that supports simulation and optimisation from the material level to industrial production. Process-physics research therefore provides the scientific foundation for RECAT’s work in adaptive intelligence, digital twins and integrated product and production development.
Senior Lecturer Tosin Adewumi — Machine Learning
Assistant Professor Movaffaq Kateb — Experimental Mechanics
Planned Assistant Professor recruitment — Machine Elements
Recruitment initiated
Professor Mikael Sjödahl — Experimental Mechanics
Professor Staffan Lundström — Fluid Mechanics
Adaptive Intelligence for Battery-Cell Manufacturing
A new RECAT research profile is the development of adaptive intelligence for battery-cell manufacturing. The objective is to create production systems that continuously monitor processes, analyse variation and adapt manufacturing in response to changing material properties and process conditions. This represents a shift from conventional recipe-based manufacturing towards data-driven and self-adapting production systems. Advanced sensors, artificial intelligence, digital twins, control engineering and cyber-physical systems work together to create more robust and resource-efficient manufacturing processes. The research profile is organised around three closely integrated areas:
Product intelligence
Product intelligence develops methods for understanding how manufacturing affects battery-cell structure, function and lifetime through advanced characterisation, operando measurements and data-driven modelling.
Process intelligence
Process intelligence focuses on adaptive methods for controlling and optimising all central stages of battery-cell manufacturing, from slurry preparation through formation.
Operational intelligence
Operational intelligence treats the battery factory as an integrated cyber-physical system. Information from machines, quality controls and operators is combined into decision support that enables adaptive control, greater flexibility and efficient use of resources.
Senior Lecturer Tosin Adewumi — Machine Learning
Assistant Professor Movaffaq Kateb — Experimental Mechanics
Assistant Professor Abdelhamid Ghoul — Control Engineering
Assistant Professor Naveen Venkatesh Sridharan — Operation and Maintenance Engineering
Integrated Product and Production Development
A central research principle within RECAT is that material development, product design and production development should not be conducted sequentially. They should be developed in parallel. Digital twins, advanced simulation and data-driven models are used to create digital representations of both products and production systems. This makes it possible to analyse how changes in materials or cell design affect manufacturing processes—and, conversely, how production changes influence product performance. Integrated product and production development creates the conditions for faster innovation, more efficient scale-up and shorter industrialisation times for new battery technologies.
Senior Lecturer Josefin Enman — Process Metallurgy Specialisation in active battery materials
Visiting Professor Björn Johansson — Sustainable Production
Chalmers University of Technology
Circularity and Industrial Symbioses
Sustainability is an overarching perspective throughout RECAT’s research. The objective is to develop technical solutions that simultaneously improve productivity, reduce energy and material consumption, and lower the climate impact of batteries throughout their lifecycle. RECAT approaches circularity as a systems challenge in which materials, production, recycling, industrial symbiosis and business models must be developed together. The research therefore addresses both the technical and organisational conditions required for circular battery value chains characterised by high resource efficiency, increased resilience and reduced dependence on virgin raw materials.
- Professor Lena Sundqvist Öqvist — Process Metallurgy
- Senior Lecturer Sadia Ilyas — Process Metallurgy
Visiting Professor Paavo Ritala — Entrepreneurship, LUT University, Lappeenranta
Visiting Professor Björn Johansson — Sustainable Production, Chalmers University of Technology
Updated: