IPCO plans partnership with WISE research arena funded by Wallenberg Foundation

IPCO will partner with a new research arena in Norrköping in Sweden, to offer manufacturing feasibility trials for sustainable products and technologies, including batteries.

The WISE Research Arena on Sustainable Electrochemical Technologies, which is part of the WISE (Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability) research program, will be a pioneering test center for battery innovation. WISE is Sweden’s largest research programme in material science for a sustainable future. The research is financed by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

Today’s batteries – and the electrochemical sector in general – are highly dependent both on PFAS (Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances), which are pollutants, and on critical raw materials, such as cobalt, platinum and lithium. With new regulations coming in around PFAS and these materials, companies are urgently seeking sustainable alternatives.

One of the goals of the new research arena is to design new materials for batteries. Private companies, including Alleima and redox.me, and academics from Chalmers as well as Linköping and Karlstad Universities, will join forces to research sustainable alternatives.

Researchers will need to gain an understanding of the manufacturing process and how it could allow them to scale up and industrialize their materials. To achieve this, they need a way of testing new materials on a small scale.

IPCO expects to offer researchers the opportunity to take advantage of the expertise, equipment and experience at its productivity centers at Fellbach and Göppingen. Alternatively, test equipment could be built in Sweden – perhaps located at the WISE research arena at Norrköping. Anders Bodin, Head of R&D at IPCO, said: ‘Today’s small-scale experiments are tomorrow’s full-size projects for IPCO. The hope is that this partnership will place us front of mind for businesses seeking to scale up the production of innovative materials, while enabling us to contribute positively to society.’