Joint laboratory
Blue Solutions – IMN – CNRS – Nantes University

IMNBlue Lab is a joint laboratory bringing together the Institut des Matériaux de Nantes Jean Rouxel (IMN), CNRS, Nantes University and the Bolloré Group‘s Blue Solutions. Created in September 2022 and inaugurated on November 30, this joint laboratory structures and strengthens a scientific collaboration that has been underway for more than twenty-five years between IMN and Blue Solutions (formerly BatScap) around all-solid battery technologies known as Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP).

The joint laboratory aims to develop future generations of “all-solid” lithium metal batteries known as GENERATION 4, combining fundamental materials research and understanding of physico-chemical mechanisms with the constraints of industrial development.

By bringing together academic researchers and industrial engineers to tackle common problems, IMNBlue Lab aims to remove major scientific barriers to the performance, durability and safety of all-solid lithium metal batteries, particularly in the context of electric mobility.

Scientific and industrial background

All-solid-state batteries are a promising technology for improving the safety and performance of electrochemical storage systems. Lithium metal polymer technology developed by Blue Solutions offers advantages in terms of thermal stability and energy density.

However, several scientific challenges remain to optimize these systems and improve their long-term performance:

  • stability of electrode/polymer electrolyte interfaces
  • high-voltage operation
  • ageing and degradation mechanisms
  • optimizing cell architectures for fast charging

IMNBlue Lab was created to understanding of these phenomena and develop scientific solutions to improve the performance of all-solid-state batteries.

A long-term scientific collaboration

The collaboration between IMN and the Bolloré Group began in 1997, and is part of a long-standing research partnership based on battery technologies. Since the 2000s, two successive Technological Research Teams (ERT) have structured joint research programs designed to address the scientific and technological challenges associated with the first generations of lithium metal polymer batteries.

Over time, this cooperation has expanded to include several major collaborative projects, notably ALEP (2001-2005), dedicated to polymer-electrolyte lithium batteries, ALEPH (2015-2018), dedicated to improving the performance of LMP batteries, and GreenHope (2015-2019), exploring new generations of aqueous batteries.

This long-term collaboration has produced numerous scientific and technological results, with 7 co-supervised theses, 6 post-doctoral positions, over 50 scientific publications and 13 international patents. The creation of the joint IMNBlue Lab extends and strengthens this historic cooperation between academic research and industrial innovation. To date, 2 new patents have been filed.

Organization

Co-directed by Philippe POIZOT (IMN) and Sarah DEGRAS(Blue Solutions), this joint laboratory brings together the IMN research team specializing in electrochemical energy storage and Blue Solutions engineers based at IMN, all dedicated to developing this new battery technology.