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The separator is an essential component of the lithium-ion battery. As a passive component, it causes the spatial separation of the electrodes and thus prevents them from short-circuiting. During the charging and discharging processes in the application, this component is subject to thermal and mechanical stress. If the separator fails, the battery discharges spontaneously, which can lead to fire or explosion.

This is where the new joint project GlasSeLIB - Glass-based Separators for Lithium-Ion Batteries comes in. By developing glass-based thin-film separators for lithium-ion batteries, the resilience of this component is to be increased.

In cooperation with the industrial partners Vitrulan Textile Glass GmbH and Füller Glastechnologie GmbH, new glass compositions are defined and processes for the production of glass-based separators are developed at the Keylab Glastechnologie of the University of Bayreuth.

At the Bavarian Center for Battery Technology at the University of Bayreuth, glass separators are first tested under laboratory conditions before being tested for their suitability for commercial use in lithium-ion batteries at the industrial partners VARTA Microbattery GmbH and Tesla Germany GmbH.