60 Second Spotlight on Tim Vincent, WMG
Ahead of the Instrumentation, Analysis and Testing Exhibition taking place on 29 April at Silverstone Race Circuit we caught up with Tim Vincent to hear his thoughts on the future of smart batteries & sensors.
Briefly describe your current role and research interests.
I’m part of the Battery Cell Instrumentation team at WMG (University of Warwick). I am fortunate to work in sensor design/fabrication for products across the development life cycle. In terms of the battery field, this can be embedding sensors within batteries to evaluate next-generation cell performance, or analysing cells at end of first-life for triage.
My research interests focus on developing miniature sensors for harsh environments, sensors for gas analysis and wire-free communication systems.
What are some of the biggest challenges in developing reliable battery sensing and management systems?
The most important factor of implementing any sensing system is that it must not influence the process it is measuring, while being able to collect accurate data. The challenge with batteries is in order to accurately measure the electrochemical processes, the sensors must be placed in-situ within the core of a cell (within the electrode stack).
When embedding sensors, material compatibility is crucial. Sensor materials must not contaminate the cell electrochemistry, but also vice-versa, so the sensor does not degrade over the (long) life of the cell. Placement and miniaturisation are also key – the volume of an instrumented cell must remain consistent with an unmodified counterpart, and sensors must be carefully placed to avoid blocking the cell’s active areas.
How do modern battery testing techniques differ from those used in the past?
Fundamentally, our battery laboratory testing is designed around the charge/discharge usage profiles and conditions a battery would experience in application. With the advances in sensor technology, test methodology can be refined. Taking the example of safety testing, we can understand not only the conditions experienced by the battery during a thermal event, but also identify specific phases building up to failure, with faster response sensors, improved resolution etc. In this way, we can construct tests to, for example, understand these failure modes, suggest design modifications to prevent propagation of the failure to other cells or mitigate the event.
Are there particular industries beyond automotive where smart batteries could make a significant impact?
Towards achieving net-zero targets, the transport sector is naturally an area in which electrification offers a huge step change. Smart batteries offer safety, life-span and reliability improvements- greatly beneficial for the larger capacity pack sizes desired in the heavier transportation, off-highway, marine or aerospace industries. There is also greater demand for reduced downtime, faster charging, redundancy and thorough inspection regimes, all of which fall within the scope of smart batteries
What advancements in battery sensing technology are on the horizon?
Research is now moving towards the technologies needed to incorporate sensors into battery cells during manufacture (at production scale). Embedding sensors post-manufacture has helped understand the chemical conditions, measurand ranges and placement locations within a cell. To scale-up smart cells, these sensing techniques must be refined, e.g. our team is working on printable sensors, thin-film deposition and conformal coating mechanisms.
What key innovations are still needed to make battery recycling and reuse more viable?
Recycling and reuse of batteries is vital towards affordable and reliable manufacture of packs for the complete transition to electric transportation. Supply of raw primary materials for batteries will otherwise become a limiting factor. Grading packs is a current bottleneck from taking end of life packs to be either reused or recycled. Smart battery technology will help maintain the value in packs, with embedded sensors helping construct a ‘cell passport’ to track a pack from manufacture, through life, to end of life.
If you could offer one piece of advice to engineers working on next-generation battery technology, what would it be?
Incorporate sensors in the early stages of battery design! With the move towards cell to pack, cells will become larger, and new chemistries will offer high energy densities. A greater spatial level of sensing will be required for accurate health monitoring. Designing with sensor locations in-place will ultimately help gain data to understand cell degradation, optimise system design and improve management capabilities.
What are the next development steps in the battery innovation field?
We are in an exciting period, where manufactures are progressing to later generations of e.g. automotive, energy storage, micro-mobility systems. It is no longer just transferring away from fossil fuels, but instead advancing to new battery chemistries, improved management regimes and optimised system designs based on years of testing/in-application usage. Principally, these steps will promote longer-life, faster charging and safer batteries, which we can look forward to within the next few years.