The sintering furnace for lithium battery materials is a key equipment used for high-temperature sintering treatment of positive and negative electrode materials, ternary positive electrode materials, etc. Its core function is to achieve material densification and performance optimization through precise temperature control and atmosphere control. Let's take a detailed look at the sintering furnace for lithium battery materials below!

PT-TX1000-H400LK4 is a rotary electric furnace suitable for sintering battery materials (click on the image to view product details)

1. Technical principle: High temperature sintering and atmosphere control
The sintering furnace for lithium battery materials causes physical and chemical reactions such as diffusion and crystallization between powdered material particles in a high-temperature environment, forming a dense crystal structure. Its core processes include:
Pre treatment: Mix the material powder evenly, remove impurities and volatile substances;
Forming: compressing powder into blocks or flakes through pressure;
Sintering: Particle bonding is completed at high temperatures (usually 700-1200 ℃) inside the furnace to form a dense structure;
Cooling: Slowly cool down to room temperature to stabilize material properties.

Key technologies:
Precise temperature control: Using multi zone independent temperature control (such as resistance wire heating) and PID intelligent algorithm, the temperature uniformity inside the furnace is controlled within ± 5 ℃, avoiding crystal structure defects.
Atmosphere control: supports the adjustment of gas ratios such as nitrogen and oxygen, creating an ideal environment for material reactions (such as the need for inert atmosphere protection for lithium iron phosphate sintering).
Dynamic sintering: By stirring or using a rotary furnace to achieve dynamic material movement (such as jumping or flipping), the uniformity of heating is improved, ensuring batch stability.

2. Equipment type: rotary furnace and box furnace
According to structural and process requirements, lithium battery material sintering furnaces are mainly divided into two categories:
Rotary furnace (dynamic sintering)
Structure: The furnace body rotates with animal material flipping to achieve dynamic sintering.
Advantages: The material is uniformly heated and fully reacted, suitable for rapid firing of powder particle materials.
Application: Laboratory research and development, small-scale production, or processing of special materials (such as high nickel ternary materials).
Case: PT-TX1000-H400LK4 rotary kiln, supporting high temperature of 1000 ℃, suitable for rapid sintering of chemical powders, particles and other products.

Box type furnace (intermittent)
Structure: Closed furnace, heated by resistance wire or silicon carbide rod.
Advantages: Simple structure, low cost, suitable for small batch production or laboratory research.
Application: Material trial production, process validation, or non continuous production scenarios.
Case: PT-A1600-64CZ box furnace, with a maximum temperature of 1700 ℃, supports vacuum atmosphere sintering annealing.

3. Core parameters: temperature, uniformity, and energy consumption
The key performance indicators of lithium battery material sintering furnace include:
Rated temperature: usually 700-1200 ℃, some equipment can reach 1700 ℃ (such as high-temperature box furnaces).
Temperature uniformity: within ± 5 ℃ (for some equipment), ensuring consistency in material properties.
Temperature control accuracy: ≤± 1 ℃, achieved through independent temperature control in multiple temperature zones.
Energy consumption: Optimize furnace structure (such as lightweight ceramic fiber modules) and heating element layout to achieve lower energy consumption compared to traditional equipment.
Capacity: Rotary furnaces and box furnaces have lower production capacity but strong flexibility.

4. Application scenario: Sintering of positive and negative electrode materials
cathode material
Ternary lithium (NCM/NCA): It needs to be sintered at 700-1000 ℃ to form a layered crystal structure, which improves energy density and cycle life.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP): The sintering temperature is about 700 ℃ and requires inert atmosphere protection to avoid oxidation and performance degradation.
Equipment selection: Priority is given to large-scale production of rotary furnaces, while small rotary furnaces or box furnaces can be selected during the research and development stage.

negative electrode material
Graphite: The sintering temperature is relatively low (about 1000 ℃), and the degree of graphitization needs to be controlled to optimize conductivity.
Silicon based negative electrode: High temperature sintering (>1000 ℃) achieves the composite of silicon particles and carbon matrix, alleviating the problem of volume expansion.
Equipment selection: Rotary furnace or high-temperature box furnace, supporting high-precision atmosphere control.

PT-A1600-64CZ high-temperature box atmosphere muffle furnace (click on the picture to view product details)

5. Development Trend: Efficiency, Intelligence, and Modularity
Efficient and energy-saving: By optimizing the furnace structure, heating element layout, and waste heat recovery system, energy consumption can be further reduced.
Intelligent control: integrating PLC system and remote monitoring platform to achieve real-time adjustment of process parameters and fault diagnosis.
Modular design: supports flexible expansion of heating zone and furnace size to meet the demand for capacity upgrading.
Material adaptability improvement: Develop detachable inner liners and multi atmosphere support equipment, compatible with various material testing and production.Click to learn more heat treatment electric furnaces! Or click on online customer service to learn more about product information!