Lithium-ion batteries: Arkema paves the way for the next generation of solvent-free electrodes

With the creation of its new “dry process” laboratory in 2025, Arkema gained a state-of-the-art facility to support electric vehicle battery manufacturers in achieving more efficient and energy-saving production for tomorrow’s electrodes.

The inauguration took place on September 29, 2025, attended by numerous customers, suppliers, and academic partners. At Cerdato, its R&D center in Serquigny (Normandy), Arkema has opened a new laboratory entirely dedicated to a highly anticipated industrial advancement in the world of electric mobility: the manufacture of battery electrodes using the dry process—a promising alternative to the current “solvent-based” process—which promises significant energy and industrial gains.

At Serquigny, the Group’s experts and their partners now have a powerful tool for jointly designing specialty polymer grades—such as Kynar® PVDF—tailored for the dry process—where PVDF plays a key role as a binder for active materials on electrodes—as well as equipment to support this industrial transition: dedicated facilities for powder mixing systems and electrodeposition testing, a pilot calendering line… The prospects are significant: solvent-free electrode manufacturing could account for 10 to 15% of the global market for electric vehicle batteries as early as 2033.

An active "Battery R&D" ecosystem spanning three continents

This new laboratory further enhances the R&D ecosystem Arkema has established for the electric mobility market, which the Group has made a key focus of its innovation strategy. The “dry process” team in Serquigny will work closely with the CRRA Battery Center of Excellence in Pierre-Bénite (France) on the integration of electrodes into cells. The laboratory will also collaborate with the Battery R&D centers in King of Prussia (United States), Changshu (China), Kyoto (Japan), and Seoul (South Korea)—which drive the Group’s innovation policy as closely as possible to the application markets—as well as with the Lacq Research Consortium (France), which is continuing its work on the formulation of carbon nanotubes used to improve electrical conductivity within the cells.

“THE DRY PROCESS: A MAJOR INDUSTRIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE.”

Three questions for Anthony Bonnet, Scientific Director of Materials for the Energy Market

What is the purpose of the “solvent-based” process used in the production of electrodes for electric vehicle batteries?

Anthony Bonnet — The performance of an electrode depends, to a large extent, on the characteristics of the thin layer of material (120 μm) that is deposited onto the current collector (a copper foil at the anode, or an aluminum foil at the cathode). Taking the cathode as an example, this layer consists of an active material—NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) or LFP (lithium iron phosphate)—mixed with a small amount of carbon fillers and a PVDF binder: the mixture must be very homogeneous, cohesive, and firmly “bonded” to the metal current collector; it must also have optimal porosity so that the liquid electrolyte (a lithium salt solution in lithium-ion batteries) can access the entire active material, much like in a sponge. These highly demanding characteristics are achieved today using the solvent-based process: a slurry is produced—a kind of paint in which the active material (70%) is suspended in a solvent (30%). The current collectors are coated with this material, and then the solvent is evaporated in ovens, leaving only the solid layer. This process is currently used by virtually all battery manufacturers.

What are the advantages of dry-process electrodes, the alternative that some players in the battery industry are now working on?

A.B. — The dry process, or solvent-free process, aims to produce exactly the same components as today, with the same level of performance, but… without solvents, and therefore without the need to evaporate them. In fact, this step in the “solvent-based” process is carried out in linear furnaces that can be up to 80 m long, heated to 80 °C for several hours—a process that consumes a considerable amount of energy. Furthermore, the NMP solvent used for cathodes is a toxic substance. Ultimately, electrodes produced using the dry process will reduce the carbon footprint of electrode production by 40 to 50% and yield cost savings of around 10%; its development is therefore a major industrial and environmental challenge.

How are Arkema and its new laboratory contributing to this development?

A.B. — The Group was one of the first chemical companies to invest in R&D for solvent-free processes. In Serquigny, our teams are working on every stage of the process: powder mixing, where the dispersion of the PVDF binder must be optimal; then the process itself, for which we are primarily developing two methods—direct calendering and electrodeposition. For the latter approach, where the powder mixture is sprayed onto the collector surface and bonded electrostatically, we must also ensure the calendering and lamination of the film… Our mission is, of course, to formulate the appropriate materials, but also to co-develop the industrial equipment used at each stage of production, in collaboration with manufacturers.