Our battery lab is equipped with comprehensive in-operando and post-mortem diagnostics for decentralized energy storage systems and generators, with a particular focus on lithium-ion battery cells and battery modules. Performance, cycling and aging tests under defined thermal parameters can be performed in the battery lab, as well as characterizations of cell capacity, internal resistance and impedance, opening of lithium-ion cells and post-mortem diagnostics of electrodes and other cell components. The lab equipment includes:

• Battery cyclers for various cell types for maximum currents up to 800 A and voltages up to 80 V (a total of around 25 channels of the Biologic, BaSyTec systems and EA Elektro-Automatik)
• Electrochemical impedance spectrometers (EIS)
• Five temperature test chambers of various sizes with safety equipment for lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries (-40°C to +180°C)
• Glovebox for working under inert gas atmosphere
• Equipment for opening commercial lithium-ion cells and harvesting cell components
• Sample preparation including grinding and polishing machine for scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy and chemical analysis

The equipment was largely financed through funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the "Enerlab 4.0" project (2018-2020) and has since been gradually expanded. The infrastructure was installed as part of the new construction of the Research and Innovation Center of Energy Technology (RIZ Energie).