The Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany is to build the Centre for Circular Production of Next Batteries and Fuel Cells (CPC), a new research building for the circular economy.
Around 150 scientists will be researching circulation production and recycling processes for batteries and fuel cells.
The new research centre, which is to be 3,700 sqm in size, is estimated to cost $84.7 million (€73 million) and is being funded by $75.5 million (€65 million) from the state and federal government.
Its goal will be to integrate the recycling and resynthesis processes into circular production for new generations of batteries and energy converters. The researchers said they want this to be as early as the product development phase.
Recovery of critical raw materials and processing them into high-purity active materials will also be focused on.
Scientists at the research centre will be collaborating for research into solid-state batteries membrane-based flow batteries, fuel cells and metal-oxygen systems from the fields of process engineering, recycling, manufacturing technology, chemistry, physics and logistics.
CPC will be built near the university’s research facilities for vehicle engineering, aviation and energy storage and battery research.
The research centre is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
“Sustainable ideas always need space. Both intellectual and material. The CPC will be both: a place for alchemists in the truest sense of the word, combining knowledge, technology and creativity,” said Professor Angela Ittel, president of TU Braunschweig. “It will also be a place for curious explorers who have the courage to question established production logic and try something new. We can do this because at TU Braunschweig, we are strong: where others see waste, we see resources. Where others waste energy, we conserve it. Here, linear becomes circular and visions become reality.”
Image: An illustration of what the CPC building could look like. Credit: Nickl Architekten Deutschland GmbH.
