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Battery skills for the future
This autumn, the new Master's Programme in Battery Technology and Energy Storage – a first in the Nordic region – is kicking off at Uppsala University. This pro gramme has been designed in cooperation with battery m anufacturer Northvolt among others, in response to strong demand.
text ANNELI BJÖRKMAN photo MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT
■ “The idea is that these students will be able to enter the labour market quickly after their studies,” says Daniel Brandell, Professor of Materials Chemistry and one of the initiators of the programme.
With increasing electrification in many sectors of society, demand for labour skilled in battery technology is rising. Cutting-edge knowledge in battery technology is essential for transitioning to large-scale energy storage and grid expansions, electric vehicles and the manufacture of battery-based everyday products.
UPPSALA UNIVERSITY IS NOW laying the foundations for the expertise in batteries needed in the future with a unique study programme. In autumn 2022, 30 students are being welcomed to the new Master’s Programme in Battery Technology and Energy Storage at the Department of ChemistryÅngström.
“What is quite unique about Uppsala’s programme at the European level is that a single higher education institution is saying ‘we are a one-stop shop’. The students will get to stay in Uppsala for two years. Here, we will teach them about battery technology from start to finish and cover the entire value chain for batteries and all the key skills you need,” says Daniel Brandell.
THE DEPARTMENT OF Chemistry-Ångström has been conducting advanced research in battery technology for a long time, mainly within the Ångström Advanced Battery Centre. Part of the Master’s programme will be tied to research, and it is hoped that the lecturers in this field will be able to create a network to share key skills with other higher education institutions.
One current asset is the European research initiative Battery2030+, which has been coordinated by the department since autumn 2020. Daniel Brandell is also part of this group, which is mapping education needs and resources at the international level.
IN SWEDEN, the research group has been in dialogue with representatives from the business community such as Northvolt regarding the development of the Master’s programme.
“There is quite a lot of consensus about the content of this study programme and what basic knowledge and skills the students will need. Northvolt is a major future employer for whom we will be educating the students, so we are of course listening to what they say. Naturally, it is the lecturers, the faculty and the programme council who then decide what the programme should include,” says Daniel Brandell and adds:
“The automotive industry is also transitioning to electrification, so many of our students will work at Scania or Volvo companies on the west coast of Sweden. So, we look forward to working even more with our research colleagues at the Division of Electricity, which this autumn is launching a new Master’s Programme in Electric Propulsion Systems.” ●
Daniel Brandell, Professor of Materials Chemistry and one of the initiators of the new battery programme, will also be one of its teachers.
CHEMISTRY Uppsala-based battery company Altris AB was recently given the green light for funding to the tune of SEK 100 million. The company’s roots are at the Ångström Laboratory, where development of the innovative manufacturing method continues.
“Our cathode material allows us to make more sustainable, cheaper and safer sodium-ion batteries,” says Reza Younesi, researcher at the Department of Chemistry – Ångström Laboratory.
He is one of three founders of Altris, whose cathode material Fennac will go into production on an industrial scale in Sandviken. The factory will manufacture approximately 2,000 tonnes of cathode material annually for use in rechargeable sodium-ion batteries. This corresponds to an energy storage capacity of 1 gigawatt-hour per year, or the annual electricity consumption of approximately 40 average electrically heated houses.
It all started when doctoral student Ronnie Mogensen joined the division in 2015 to conduct research into sodium-ion batteries.
“We were probably fortunate to come up with this method for synthesising Prussian white (as Fennac is often known), which is based on sodium ions. Our breakthrough was that we succeeded in synthesising the material at low temperatures and without high pressure, making the manufacturing process cheaper,” says Mogensen.
Sodium-ion was the natural choice over lithium, a mineral that is both expensive and limited to certain regions of the world. Instead, the researchers use raw materials and chemicals that are available on
Researchers Ronnie Mogensen, William Brant and Reza Younesi around research samples of the cathode material Fennac or Prussian white.
The success is based on a unique method of synthesising the material Prussian white, which despite the name is originally blue in colour.
PHOTO: MIKAEL WALLERSTEDT
practically all continents, such as iron, nitrogen, sodium and carbon. Another component is aluminium, which is used in place of copper, making the battery cheaper and easier to manufacture. ●
