Malvern Panalytical Future Days 2025
Focus on Battery
Watch the highlights
The 2025 edition of Malvern Panalytical’s Future Day event took place on May 21, where we focused on the future of battery technology and materials characterization. Experts from Umicore, Fraunhofer, Twente, and Delft Universities joined us at the table for an insightful exploration into the new chemistry electrode materials, innovative battery cell designing, and the efficient battery recycling technologies. Here, you can get a recap of the key moments, view the presentations, and learn more about Malvern Panalytical’s instruments for battery production and recycling.
Check out our previous edition >>
What our guest speakers said about the event
Dr. Xuehang Wang, Assistant Professor in Electrochemical Energy Storage at Delft University of Technology:
“A lovely event with inspiring talks and diverse discussions. As scientists, we’re pushing the boundaries of battery materials. New materials are full of unknowns—and opportunities. It’s a great space to share ideas and learn from others.”
Dr. Margarita Merkulova, Program manager in analytics, Umicore:
“I really enjoyed connecting with experts from research and industry. Battery recycling stands out to me as a key to sustainable resource use. I hope battery production becomes both sustainable and accessible to all.”
Prof. Dr. ir. Mark Huijben, Professor of Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage, Twente University:
“It was a lot of fun to join the panel of experts and explore the latest developments in battery technology—especially beyond my usual scope. What stood out was the innovation happening across the entire battery value chain. For Europe to lead in battery production, we must ensure everything from material sourcing to recycling is covered locally.”
Dr. Jonas Höwedes, Product & Process Qualification Fraunhofer FFB:
“The Future Days event is highly valuable for gaining insights into emerging materials, production techniques, and innovations from fundamental research. It helps participants understand how to integrate these advancements into production and research infrastructure, supporting the growth of new companies and technologies in Europe”
Future Days - Introduction
Dr. Margarita Merkulova, Program manager in analytics, Umicore
Comprehensive characterization is an essential part of sustainable material recovery during battery recycling. Umicore's unique recycling process uses a smart combination of pyro- and hydro-metallurgy for material characterization and chemical analysis, resulting in more streamlined processes and greater yield of valuable metals.
Prof. Dr. ir. Mark Huijben, Professor of Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage, Twente University
This session explored the miniaturization of energy storage devices for wireless and autonomous applications, and their key challenges around factors like performance, reversibility, and degradation. Learn how epitaxial engineering can realize crystalline thin film model systems, enabling unique insights into electrochemical behavior.
Dr. Jonas Höwedes, Product & Process Qualification Fraunhofer FFB
For European battery cell producers, cost-competitive lithium-ion cell production will remain a key challenge in the years to come. Dr. Höwedes presented innovative approaches to solving this challenge, such as sodium-ion battery materials and dry coating technologies.
Dr. Xuehang Wang, Assistant Professor in Electrochemical Energy Storage at Delft University of Technology
New material innovations are crucial to high-energy and high-power electrochemical energy storage (EES). Dr. Wang discussed how technologies like 2D transition metal carbide MXenes and conjugated polyelectrolytes enable next-generation EES devices, bridging the gap between thin-film batteries and micro-capacitors.
Lillian Arbenz and Umesh Tiwari, Malvern Panalytical
This session demonstrated how robust and reliable analytical tools can provide valuable insights into the quality attributes of battery materials and processes, such as particle size and shape analysis, elemental composition, and crystalline phase determination for precursor, cathode, anode, and separator materials.
Rajendra Mishra and Michel Zoontjes, Malvern Panalytical
Our real-time process solutions can be integrated into various stages of the battery recycling process. Whether it’s analyzing black mass on a conveyor belt or determining elemental composition during the hydrometallurgical process, there is an instrument for the whole value chain.
The roundtable highlighted the importance of innovation in battery materials and manufacturing, especially for Europe and the US. Experts emphasized the role of AI, clean production, and strategic autonomy, concluding that innovation, supported by selective standardization, is key to future success.
The session introduces battery recycling as a critical but currently unprofitable sector, largely due to low raw material prices and limited end-of-life battery returns. However, with regulatory pressure and a surge in electric vehicle battery waste expected by 2027–2028, recycling is poised to become both necessary and economically viable—making it a key topic for future readiness.
Experts discussed the future of battery recycling, highlighting the need for scalable solutions, smarter sorting, and innovations like direct recycling and battery passports. With EV battery waste rising, circularity and sustainability are more critical than ever.
