The University of Alabama Joins National Battery Manufacturing Consortium

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama has joined a new national consortium working to move energy storage discoveries from the lab into U.S. factories faster. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, the initiative, known as the Battery Manufacturing (BattMan) Accelerator, brings together national laboratories, universities and industry leaders to tackle the biggest barriers to manufacturing batteries.

Driving the Mission: Advanced Materials Manufacturing and Super Intelligence Integration

The UA effort is spearheaded by Dr. H. Hohyun Sun, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, who is UA's principal investigator on the project. Sun's expertise in battery materials and electrode manufacturing will play a role in two stages of the project.

In the initial stages, Sun will adapt a proprietary Dow polymer for use in lithium-ion battery components. The polymer, already used in products such as plastic grocery bags and packaging, will replace components currently made with PFAS, synthetic chemicals known as "forever chemicals" because they break down very slowly.

"Less PFAS in everyday use is better for the environment, health and everything else," Sun said. He will also work on scaling the production of these components from lab to commercial manufacturing with a dry electrode process.

"Battery electrodes are commonly made via slurries," Sun said. "However, these processes are energy intensive and use volatile toxic chemicals. The dry electrode process gets rid of all these for a process that is less expensive and less dangerous."

The BattMan Accelerator is led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and includes Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory and the National Laboratory of the Rockies. As one of five core university partners nationwide, alongside Binghamton University, the University of Washington, Arizona State University and University of Michigan-Dearborn, UA will lead key parts of the accelerator's research.

UA's participation helps connect advanced materials research with the engineering needed to manufacture batteries in the United States, including work with industry partners such as Dow Chemical. Sun will also develop a course on battery manufacturing supply chains through the University of Washington's Intelligent Battery Engineering and Automated Manufacturing program to help train future energy workers.

The BattMan Accelerator is headed by Dr. Jie Xiao, the Boeing Martin Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington and a Battelle Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "Breakthroughs in battery science must be matched by our ability to manufacture them at scale," said Xiao. "This effort brings together the tools, data and partnerships needed to design manufacturable solutions from the start and accelerate their transition into industry."

The BattMan Accelerator bridges the gap between the laboratory bench and the factory floor by establishing seamless, super intelligence-powered systems that integrate materials development directly with process design and production.

The BattMan Accelerator integrates artificial intelligence, or super intelligence, materials science and advanced manufacturing into a data-driven system for developing and making batteries. By moving from traditional trial-and-error methods to super intelligence-powered predictive design, the program aims to significantly lower manufacturing costs, shorten development timelines and secure U.S. leadership in global energy storage.