Battery Laboratory Technician – Key Responsibilities
- Prioritise laboratory safety, Health & Safety (H&S), and safe working practices at all times.
- Follow laboratory SOPs, risk assessments, COSHH requirements, PPE rules, chemical-handling procedures, and emergency-response procedures.
- Maintain a clean, organised, and safe battery laboratory, including correct storage, labelling, handling, and disposal of chemicals and battery materials.
- Identify laboratory hazards, unsafe conditions, damaged equipment, chemical spills, and abnormal battery behaviour, and report or escalate issues immediately.
- Ensure battery-making and testing equipment is operated safely and only in accordance with approved procedures.
Pouch Cell Manufacturing Equipment
The technician must be trained and competent in operating equipment used for pouch-cell preparation and assembly, including:
- Electrode cutting and punching equipment
- Electrode weighing and preparation equipment
- Vacuum ovens and drying equipment
- Gloveboxes and dry-room equipment
- Pouch-forming equipment
- Electrode stacking or cell-assembly equipment
- Ultrasonic or tab-welding equipment
- Vacuum sealing and heat-sealing equipment
- Electrolyte filling and injection equipment
- Cell degassing and final-sealing equipment
- Thickness, weight, dimensional, and quality-control measurement equipment
The technician should be able to set up, operate, clean, inspect, and perform basic troubleshooting of this equipment.
Electrolyte Preparation
- Prepare battery electrolytes accurately according to approved formulations and procedures.
- Safely handle solvents, lithium salts, additives, and other electrolyte chemicals.
- Use analytical balances, pipettes, dispensers, mixing equipment, and associated laboratory tools correctly.
- Carry out electrolyte preparation in the appropriate controlled environment, such as a glovebox, dry room, or fume hood.
- Maintain strict control of contamination, moisture exposure, chemical compatibility, and cleanliness.
- Accurately label electrolyte batches and maintain preparation records, batch information, and traceability.
- Follow correct procedures for chemical storage, waste disposal, spill response, and handling of flammable or hazardous materials.
Battery Testing and Equipment Operation
- Set up, operate, and monitor battery testing equipment safely and correctly.
- Manage charge/discharge cycling, capacity testing, formation cycling, ageing, and other battery-performance tests.
- Monitor running tests and identify abnormal voltage, current, temperature, capacity, or cell behaviour.
- Safely remove, isolate, and report failed, swollen, leaking, overheated, or otherwise abnormal cells.
- Maintain accurate test records, sample identification, test-channel information, and laboratory logs.
- Perform routine equipment checks, cleaning, basic maintenance, and calibration verification where required.
- Support engineers and scientists with pouch-cell manufacture, electrolyte preparation, battery testing, experimental work, and troubleshooting.
Core expectation: The technician must demonstrate strong practical knowledge of laboratory safety and be competent in safely operating the equipment required for pouch-cell manufacture, electrolyte preparation, and battery testing."
