SINTEF is one of Europe’s largest independent research organisations. Every year they carry out several thousand projects for customers large and small.

They deliver innovation by developing knowledge and technologies that are brought into practical use. It is a broad, multidisciplinary research organisation with international top-level expertise in the fields of technology, the natural sciences, medicine and the social sciences.

SINTEF conduct contract R&D as a partner for the private and public sectors, and is one of the largest contract research institutions in Europe. Their vision is Technology for a better society.

Safe and reliable batteries with a high energy density are of outermost importance for the electrification of society, in particular in the transport sector where lithium-ion batteries are dominating.

SINTEF works on the development of high energy cathodes with long lifetime with a focus on high safety.

SINTEF is coordinating the HYDRA project and is also heavily involved in testing, characterizing and modelling battery cells.

UCL is at the forefront of innovation and excellence in education and research in the French speaking part of Belgium. It has also been placed among the most innovative universities in Europe by Reuters in recent years.

The university involves 58,000 students with 9,868 of them coming from abroad from 163 different nationalities. The staff includes about 20,524 teachers, researchers, administrative and technical collaborators.

Research is one of UCL’s main activities with 475 M€ research expenditure in 2017. It ranks 6th within the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 project overview with 238 approved projects. More than 1,000 research contracts are signed every year with universities, public institutions and private companies.

UCL offers a variety of services to society and the academic community. In total it has 3 science parks, 2 university hospitals, 1 museum, and 8 main libraries.

The NRJ group lead by Prof Alexandru VLAD is the directly involved partner in HYDRA. Vlad NRJ Group research primarily focus on design and synthesis of materials and architectures to address the new challenges in the field of electrochemical energy storage and conversion.

The group has a unique combination of research backgrounds in organic materials and inorganic nanomaterials. They explore novel electrolyte chemistries and interfacial transport phenomena, alkali metal batteries and SEI studies, along with synthesis and electrochemistry of exotic inorganic phases for alkali and alkali earth cation storage.

DLR is short for ‘Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt’. It is the Federal Republic of Germany’s research centre for aeronautics and space.

DLR has the expertise of its 55 research institutes and facilities with over 9000 employees. This enables DLR to develop solutions to global challenges in the fields of aeronautics, space, energy, transport, security and digitalisation.

The research on electrochemical technologies is located at the Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics. It ranges from fundamental studies to the system level integration of batteries, fuel cells as well as electrolyzers.

In the HYDRA project, DLR is leading the work-package on “Advanced Characterization”. DLR is also responsible for the experimental investigation of the prototype cells produced in the project.

Furthermore, DLR will contribute with operando techniques to derive a more profound understanding of the functioning of the hybrid materials and how they interact with each other.

ICSI is one of the leading Romanian R&D institutes in the field of energy related technologies.

It is historically linked with the development of the national energy system through its crucial role in the Romanian nuclear program. It was responsible for the heavy water pilot plant and more recently for the detrioration facilities.

In the last 20 years, ICSI has committed on a path that converges towards its final goal; to become the enabling instrument for Romania to build, step by step, an economy «fueled» with safe, clean and renewable energies. This will as much as possible eliminate the fossil fuels dependence.

Within the HYDRA project, ICSI offers its expertise with regard to the manufacturing and testing. ICSI has R&D infrastructure for lithium-based batteries – pouch cells complying with the international standards at a technology readiness level (TRL) of 5/6.

ICSI leads Work package (WP) 7 and contributes to tasks in all the other WPs.

SOLVIONIC develops specialized chemistry in the field of ionic liquids (IL). The company produces and adapts the quality and purity of ionic liquids for their applications in the fields of catalysis, surface preparation and energy storage.

As part of sustainable chemistry, SOLVIONIC uses innovative technology to design chemical processes as a whole to use less energy, fewer raw materials, and to generate less waste.

The role of SOLVIONIC in HYDRA is to develop high performance IL- based liquid and solid electrolytes for high voltage and high power electrode materials. The objectives include decreasing cost, minimizing environmental impacts, and increasing safety.

For 160 years, the Politecnico di Torino has been one of the most prestigious public institutions at both the International and the Italian levels concerning education, research, technological transfer and services in all sectors of architecture and engineering.

The Politecnico di Torino was founded in 1859 as Scuola di Applicazione per gli Ingegneri (Technical School for Engineers), and it became Regio Politecnico di Torino in 1906.

Historically, the University became a reference point for education and research in Italy and in Europe. Today it is a Research University of international level which attracts students from more than 100 countries.

Graduates from the Politecnico di Torino receive an education that goes far beyond technical knowledge. The students are trained with attention to theoretical and applied research and the knowledge and development of cutting edge technologies.

Furthermore, the students are also aware of the concreteness and realism concerning the management of a manufacturing process or the organization of a service, and the care of functionality, without ignoring design. This enables them to provide analysis and propose solutions to the challenges of today’s society in order to plan a sustainable future.

The students are able to manage the interdisciplinary nature of the scientific world of today without forgetting social, ethical, economic and environmental implications.

Excellent results in education and research fields, positive reviews from students, quality education processes and the ability to win national and European grants has positioned the Politecnico di Torino at a high national and European ranking.

Since 2010 the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) began to award public funding of the Fondo di Finanziamento Ordinario according to a table on Universities performances. The Politecnico has always been the first University in Italy in this ranking, thanks to the good results of the University at the European level.

The University activates about 800 collaborations per year with industries, public institutions and local organizations.

The Electrochemistry Group@Polito is involved in several EU projects and is partner In Battery2030+ initiative. The group is also co-chair of WG2 on advanced materials of ETIP Batteries Europ2.

In HYDRA, POLITO is leading Work package (WP) 1 on high voltage cathode synthesis and is involved in the WP on testing.

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation. They focus on four main areas: defence and security, low carbon energies (nuclear and renewable energies), technological research for industry, fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.

Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.

The CEA is established in nine centers spread throughout France. It works in partnership with many other research bodies, local authorities and universities.

The CEA is a stakeholder in a series of national alliances set up to coordinate French research in energy (ANCRE), life sciences and health (AVIESAN), digital science and technology (ALLISTENE), environmental sciences (AllEnvi) and human and social sciences (ATHENA).

CEA is involved in HYDRA as a work page (WP) leader of sustainability tasks. It will set an eco-design workshop, realize the Life Cycle Assessment of HYDRA’s technology and contribute to materials developments in WP1 with the synthesis of LNMO with high energy and high power density.

The world needs greener batteries and Vianode is a Norwegian supplier of highly-engineered active anode materials that make this possible.

Vianode produce sustainably engineered battery materials that safely provide higher density and faster charging time in electric vehicles and other sophisticated energy storage applications.

Vianode has developed a range of synthetic graphite products with unique performance characteristics that can be adjusted to meet specific customer requirements. 

Through on-going R&D efforts and innovation, Vianode will continue to develop future active anode materials with synthetic graphite, silicon, and other blends based on market and industry needs.