CSEM opens first Swiss dry room for battery development

17.04.2025

CSEM opens first Swiss drying room for battery development

The Swiss Technology Innovation Centre Centre Suisse d'Électronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM) is creating optimal conditions for lithium processing with a new type of drying room. The ultra-modern room, which offers an extremely low dew point of -50 degrees Celsius and therefore provides almost perfect conditions for processing, is due to be available this year. The focus is on the development of solid-state batteries. 

It is located in the CSEM Battery Innovation Hub (BIH) and is only 37 square metres in size. Although this is small compared to facilities for commercial battery production, it is still sufficient, as the focus here is on research and development. The drying room is being opened up specifically for Swiss start-ups and small to medium-sized companies to make it easier for them to access state-of-the-art infrastructure and reduce innovation risks. 

Opportunities for Swiss start-ups and the path to solid-state batteries

Andrea Ingenito, Co-Director of the Innovation Hub, calls the facility ‘more than a technical upgrade’ and speaks of a milestone for the development of next-generation batteries. The extremely low humidity makes it possible to test and quickly optimise new materials and production processes in a practical manner.

The drying room is also equipped with a pilot line for assembling pouch cells so that battery prototypes can be developed in industry-like formats and capacities. Pouch cells in particular, which are used in smartphones and electric vehicles, can be manufactured under realistic production conditions in this environment. 

Thanks to the new infrastructure and the experts' expertise, the CSEM has high hopes of paving the way for strengthening the European battery industry and ensuring that Switzerland remains competitive. Solid-state batteries, which are currently regarded as an innovation in the field of electromobility, still need some time before they can be mass-produced. But their high energy density and short charging times have the potential to change the battery market enormously.

Image: Christian Beutler/CSEM

Sources: 

pv-magazine.de, Sandra Enkhardt, 25.02.2025

electrive.net, Sebastian Schaal, 03.03.2025