ADEL: an automated drop-cast electrode setup for high-throughput screening of battery materials

Abstract

Screening electrode materials in conventional battery research is time-consuming due to the lengthy and intricate preparation process, where multiple parameters directly influence electrochemical performance. In this work, we present ADEL, an affordable module for the Automated preparation of high-loading Drop-cast ELectrodes, integrated within MAITENA, a Materials Acceleration and Innovation plaTform for ENergy Applications. The process consists of two main steps: (i) the automated preparation of electrode slurries and (ii) the drop-casting of these slurries onto aluminum foils using a pipetting robot, followed by drying under a halogen lamp. ADEL enables the preparation of 48 electrodes per day, allowing for the screening of up to 24 distinct active materials and/or electrode formulations. We demonstrate the method's repeatability using various commercial and lab-synthesized battery materials in different cell configurations, consistently achieving results with less than 3% relative standard deviation. As such, ADEL provides reliable, high-quality datasets for fast screening of battery materials, significantly accelerating research and development efforts.