EM Sensing for Contactless Thickness and Conductivity Measurement

One of the essential components of a lithium-ion battery is its electrodes, with the most common type comprising conducting coatings applied to both sides of a metal foil. The goal of this project is to develop a sensor for measuring thickness, conductivity, dielectric response and moisture content of the coating. The main challenge of this project is the lift-off requirement: the sensor must be suspended at least 5mm above the coating, i.e., the measurement must be taken without touching the sample. We open-resonator-based techniques to obtain the surface impedance data from the sample without having to come in direct contact with it, and then use mathematical modelling to infer conductivity and thickness from that data. Once the sensor is developed, it will be used to optimize and streamline the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, helping to satisfy the rapidly growing demand for them.

Faculty Supervisor:

David Broun

Student:

Partner:

Honeywell Canada (North Vancouver, BC)

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: