SAFELOOP Achieves Breakthrough in Recycled Graphite Battery Cells at Industrial Scale
- Ilias Chatzimpalis
- Jul 8
- 2 min read
📣 A major milestone in SAFELOOP’s journey towards cementing our innovations within the European Electric Vehicle Batttery value chain.
The advanced active materials developed by Research Unit of Sustainable Chemistry, University of Oulu and American Energy Technologies Company, Koppers Inc. and Cadoux Limited along with the innovative electrolyte developed by Forschungszentrum Jülich, have been successfully processed into pouch cells by our partners at TÜBİTAK. The cells are using an anode material that incorporates recycled graphite recovered from end‑of‑life batteries, cathode active materials enhanced with recycled conductive additives and proprietary nanostructured ceramic modifiers engineered to improve battery safety and performance. Starting with a baseline capacity of 2.2 Ah, these cells have demonstrated outstanding performance, retaining approximately 85% of their capacity after 1,000 cycles! Another advancement, within the SAFELOOP project, which proves that the joint efforts of our partners create a massive impact that spans the entire battery value chain—from material synthesis and pilot-scale cell validation to gigafactory-level cylindrical cell manufacturing, advanced module construction (Yunasko and Bozankaya), and final deployment into an electric bus platform (Bozankaya).
At TÜBİTAK, the workflow began by transforming the raw materials received from our material development partners into pilot-scale electrodes, which were then assembled into pouch cells and subjected to rigorous testing. The collaborative work with TÜBİTAK and ASPILSAN Enerji marks a major industry milestone: the first known qualification of recycled graphite in large‑format lithium‑ion battery cells! This phase serves as a vital pre-feasibility study, proving the practical processability and flawless chemical compatibility of these materials. Furthermore, these cells underwent intense safety tests handled by Łukasiewicz – Poznański Instytut Technologiczny, yielding highly promising and robust results.
Thanks to the preliminary foundational work conducted at TÜBİTAK’s facility, ASPILSAN Enerji has already kicked off factory-level cylindrical cell production!
This milestone is believed to represent the world’s first gigafactory‑scale production run of 18650 cells utilizing recycled graphite in a circular battery supply chain!
The next immediate milestone will be leveraging these calibrated cells for module development and real-world electric bus integration.
Is that all? Not even close.
Once the final results of this first iteration are locked in, the entire consortium will combine their expertise once again. The exact same rigorous methodology will be deployed to push the boundaries of safety and performance even further.
In other words: Another LOOP for SAFELOOP is about to begin.
Stay tuned for more breakthrough updates from the front lines of European battery innovation! 🚀🔋
Research Unit of Sustainable Chemistry, University of Oulu Forschungszentrum Jülich Łukasiewicz – Poznański Instytut Technologiczny ISPE CEA TÜBİTAK HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management American Energy Technologies Company Koppers Inc. Cadoux Limited YUNASKO Enviva Imperial College London ASPILSAN Enerji Bozankaya
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