Titomic Ltd, a global leader in cold spray additive manufacturing (AM) using the company’s Titomic Kinetic Fusion (TKF) technology, has announced its application for lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrode manufacturing. Traditionally, these electrodes are manufactured using slurry-based processes that require multiple steps — including mixing, coating, drying, and calendaring — but Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Energy Storage Engine in ‘Upstate New York Program’, has partnered with Titomic to advance cold-spray-based dry-coating technologies aimed at enabling next-generation battery electrode manufacturing.
Titomic’s TKF cold-spray approach eliminates the energy and time-intensive stages by directly depositing electrode powders onto aluminium or copper foils, a process that can be seamlessly integrated into existing roll-to-roll production lines or adapted for 3-D printed electrodes with customised geometries and compositions.
The company’s technical programme, in collaboration with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is structured in four phases: material feasibility; down-selection and demonstrator; Pilot TKF CS station: and detailed scalability and cost analysis to evaluate the transition from laboratory demonstrations to large-scale industry applications.
This approach addresses critical industry needs for more sustainable, efficient, and scalable electrode manufacturing. Beyond conventional graphite anodes, Titomic’s process can produce ‘advanced silicon–copper composite electrodes’, which offer ultra-high theoretical capacity and support the development of all dry-coated (solvent-and binder-free) LIBs.
Jim Simpson, Titomic’s CEO and managing director, said: “This deposition breakthrough represents a pivotal moment in our expansion into the clean energy sector. By applying our proven TKF cold spray technology to battery electrode manufacturing, Titomic is helping to overcome long-standing efficiency and sustainability challenges in lithium-ion production and thereby support the global transition to renewable energy and electrification.”