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Overview
Our technologies support every step of battery development, including raw material refining, electrode material manufacturing (cathode, anode, electrolyte), and material recovery in battery recycling, as well as next-generation battery research. Power your advancements with our comprehensive portfolio of analytical instruments, software, and related tools and technologies, including inductively coupled plasma-optimal emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), ion chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instruments.
Our analytical solutions enable you to help improve battery safety and longevity, decrease charging time, and boost power output.
- Reliable, robust, and sensitive electrolyte composition and purity confirmation
- Identification of electrolyte degradation products and elucidation of degradation pathways
- Superior stability for quantifying major cathode material elements, including lithium, nickel, manganese, iron, phosphorus, and cobalt
- Fast, accurate and precise detection of trace elemental impurities in battery component materials
- Elemental and organic component analysis for battery aging, charge – discharge cycle performance and safety testing
- Reproducible, high-quality results
Photo credit: ©2025 MEET/Judith Kraft
MEET Battery Research Center at the University of Muenster
See how we are advancing battery research and development with MEET at University of Munster.
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From research and development, through quality control of raw materials and components, to battery testing and recycling, Thermo Fisher Scientific provides comprehensive analytical technologies, service and support to help you build better batteries.
Resources for battery scientists
Research
Processes: Novel electrode material research, electrolyte, cathode and anode material degradation studies, failure analysis for scrap reduction, exploring battery material recycling methods, development of next generation technologies, such as solid state and sodium ion batteries
Analytical need: Material elemental and organic composition and purity characterization, examination of causes of battery failure and defect investigation, evaluation of novel electrode and electrolyte materials
Resources to improve your research and development
Mining and mineral processing
Processes: Mined material processing, refined product purity analysis, quality assurance and control, environmental emission monitoring and control
Analytical need: Bulk process and quality control (QC), mineral, ore, and brine analysis for lithium and impurity element content, composition and purity control of raw nickel, cobalt, manganese materials plus graphite, silicon and composite anode materials
Resources to improve mining and mineral processing
Battery component materials QC
Processes: Cathode active material and anode material production, electrolyte production, slurry solvent purity testing and electrode slurry formulation testing
Analytical need: Elemental and organic solvent composition and purity testing of cathode, electrolyte and anode materials, electrode manufacturing process control, electrode slurry formation quality assurance and control
Resources to improve battery component materials QC
Quality assurance and quality control
Processes: Performance testing, failed battery material rejection, battery calendar and charge / discharge cycle aging studies
Analytical need: Analysis of electrolyte degradation products, elemental quantitation and purity of cathode and anode materials, organic component measurement in electrolyte solutions, and investigation of separator degradation products in failed and aged battery cells.
Resources to improve your understanding of battery testing
Recycling
Processes: Screening incoming material, battery metals recovery, composition and purity testing of recycled material to ensure that it’s battery grade quality
Analytical need: Elemental content screening of incoming feedstock materials to determine the battery chemistry and to optimise the recycling process, elemental composition and purity testing of final recycled and purified products, waste screening and effluent monitoring
Resources to improve material recovery in battery recycling
Battery frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Answer: ICP-OES or ICP-MS systems have well defined methods for analyzing cathode active materials for trace metal contaminants, including magnetic particles at the ppm – to – sub ppb levels.
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Answer: The impurity of interest will determine which solution will work best. For organic components, Ion and gas chromatography can deliver the answers. If you are targeting inorganic targets, ICP-OES or ICP-MS can detect metal particles in the sample.
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Answer: Overheating of Li-Ion batteries can cause gas pressure to build up in closed cells, which can cause rupture of the battery with subsequent leaking of hazardous material and potential for fire. Gas chromatography can detect and identify the components in the swell gases to enable fault detections and battery performance analysis.
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Answer: NMC, Nickle -Manganese-Cobalt, is the leading material used for constructing the cathode within Lithium Battery Chemistry. The Ni:Mn:Co ratio varies by application, and it is important for the manufacture to confirm the ratio is as required. For instance, NMC 111 (or333) has equimolar amounts of each component, while NMC 685 varies accordingly. ICP-OES can determine the precise blend of NMC in the procured material.
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Answer: Graphite powder is the primary material used for anode construction. As in Cathode Active Material, metal particles can produce loss of performance and potentially dangerous short circuits. ICP-OES and ICP-MS are the primary analytical tools to determine metal particle identity and quantity in the anode powder.
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Answer: Using a GC-FID method with static headspace sampling will give you the possibility to rapidly determine the residual NMP in your electrode sheets without performing time and solvent consuming extraction steps in advance. Additionally, this gives you the possibility to make your QC process more sustainable.
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Answer: Using the FlashSmart Elemental Analyzer will help you to determine carbon and sulfur content in an easy and fast way. As this method works by combusting the sample there is no digestion of the solid materials needed. The simultaneous determination of carbon and sulfur gives you the possibility to analyze different battery materials with a common method.
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Answer: ICP-MS system can determine major components and impurities so that you can control the purity of your recycled components at each single step of the recycling process.
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Answer: The composition of recyclable materials is determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), which is known for its high sensitivity and capability for multi-element analysis. This helps in developing effective recycling processes and delivering products with sufficient purity for reutilization.
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Answer: Understanding the electrolyte composition provides valuable insights that can improve battery performance, efficiency, and safety. This knowledge is crucial for developing better batteries and ensuring their reliability and safety.
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Featured technologies for your battery manufacturing laboratory
As lithium-ion batteries become more advanced, so do the manufacturing processes required to create them. We offer a broad range of tools and instruments, including ion chromatography, elemental analysis, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, that enable the production of advanced battery technology.
Ion chromatography (IC)
IC provides insights into the fundamental processes and degradation mechanisms in lithium-ion batteries to ensure product quality during manufacturing.
Trace elemental analysis (TEA)
TEA measures impurities that can degrade the charge-carrying capacity of batteries, including the composition and purity of their lithium salts.
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
GC and GC-MS systems can identify and quantify compounds formed during electrolyte aging, providing new insights into lithium-ion battery degradation.
Enabling advances in battery technologies
Discover additional tools, instruments, and services to improve your battery value chain.
Instrument service and support
Maximize your instrument uptime with superior services and support.
There’s no time for downtime in your lab. Customers worldwide who depend on maximum availability of lab instruments for critical operations choose the Unity Lab Services Premier service plan to minimize disruption and stay focused on production.
Features of the Premier service plan include:
- Two-business-day, on-site response time for corrective maintenance to minimize downtime
- Unlimited enhanced technical support with immediate response, featuring remote resolution of more than 35% of issues with our remote repair services
- Proactive annual preventive instrument maintenance that increases uptime
- Semiannual service consultations delivered by highly experienced and certified service managers
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