WO2022161809A1

WO2022161809A1 - Method and apparatus for compressing

Info

Publication number: WO2022161809A1
Application number: PCT/EP2022/050933
Authority: WO
Inventors: Harald Gruber; Eugen Schnyder
Original assignee: Voith Patent Gmbh
Priority date: 2021-02-01
Filing date: 2022-01-18
Publication date: 2022-08-04
Also published as: DE102021102223A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and calender for compressing a material strip for producing electrodes of a battery cell, wherein the material strip comprises a substrate film, which is provided with a coating at least on one side, and the compressing takes place by means of a calender nip, which is formed by a first roll and a second roll, and wherein loading means are provided for generating a linear load in the calender nip. At least one roll is designed as a gap-control roll, which has adjustment means in its interior for deforming the lateral area of the roll in a targeted manner by applying force, wherein these adjustment means are designed so that different forces can be applied over the width of the roll, and so that the compressing in the calender nip takes place with a linear load between 550 N/mm and 7000 N/mm, in particular between 1000 N/mm and 5000 N/mm.

Description

Method and device for compaction

The invention relates to a method for compressing a web of material according to the preamble of claim 1 and a suitable device according to the preamble of claim 12.

Electrical energy can be stored using batteries. Batteries convert chemical reaction energy into electrical energy. A distinction is made between primary batteries and secondary batteries. Primary batteries only function once, while secondary batteries, also known as accumulators, are rechargeable. A battery includes one or more battery cells.

So-called lithium-ion battery cells, in particular, are used in an accumulator. These are characterized, among other things, by high energy densities, thermal stability and extremely low self-discharge. Lithium-ion battery cells are used, among other things, in motor vehicles, in particular in electric vehicles (electric vehicles, EV), hybrid vehicles (hybrid electric vehicles, HEV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, PHEV).

Lithium-ion battery cells have a positive electrode, also known as the cathode, and a negative electrode, also known as the anode. The cathode and the anode usually each include a current conductor, to which a functional element is applied, which has an electrochemically active material. The active material for the cathode contains, for example, a metal oxide such as LhMnOs or an NCM alloy, ie an alloy of nickel, cobalt and manganese. The active material for the anode contains, for example, silicon or graphite. An ionically conductive, electrically non-conductive separator or electrolyte is located as a further element between the cathode and the anode. The electrolyte can be liquid or solid, e.g. polymer, glass or ceramic. In addition to the active material, the electrode material of the functional element often includes other materials, in particular an electronic conductive component such as conductive carbon black or graphite, and an ionic conductive component such as a liquid or solid electrolyte. A polymer binder, for example, can be used to mechanically stabilize the electrode material.

For the production of such electrodes, it is known, for example from WO 2019 086 241, to provide a film with a coating, which can have, for example, one of the active materials described, and to suitably compress this coating in a calender and thereby densify it. This allows the porosity and pore sizes in the coating to be significantly reduced and good contact between the components of the functional element, for example grains, e.g. an active material, and a matrix phase, for example an ion-conducting phase in a cathodic active material layer or an anodic active material layer, is ensured .

Furthermore, the thickness of the electrode material is also reduced by the compression, so that a higher packing density in the battery becomes possible.

However, the requirements in modern batteries are very high. On the one hand, as described above, strong compression of the coating is required. On the other hand, the compressed coatings must be very uniform, in particular having a very uniform thickness in both the longitudinal and transverse directions.

In addition, a process that is as flexible as possible for the production of such electrodes is required for the large number of applications.

The simple roll calender known from the prior art reaches its limits here. It is therefore the object of the invention to improve the weaknesses of the prior art.

In particular, the object of the invention is to propose a method and a device that allows a high compression together with a high uniformity of the compressed coating.

Another object of the invention is that this process can be carried out stably and safely even at high production speeds.

The object is achieved according to the invention by a method according to claim 1 and a device according to claim 12. Further advantageous embodiments of the present invention can be found in the dependent claims.

With regard to the method, the object is achieved by a method for compressing a strip of material for the production of electrodes for a battery cell, the strip of material comprising a carrier film which is provided with a coating on at least one side, and the compacting being carried out by means of a calender nip which is a first roll and a second roll is formed. In addition, load means are provided to generate a line load in the calender nip. According to the invention, it is provided that the first roller and/or the second roller is designed as a gap control roller, which has adjusting means in its interior in order to deform the roller shell in a targeted manner through the action of force, with these adjusting means being designed in such a way that different Forces can be applied, and that the compression in the calender nip with a line load between 550 N/mm and 7000 N/mm, in particular between 1000 N/mm and 5000 N/mm.

If the term line load is used in the context of this application, unless explicitly stated otherwise, it means the mean line load over the nip width or the width of the material strip. Industrial rollers often include a largely cylindrical roller shell, which is closed with a cover on each of the two end faces. Pins for storing the rollers are then attached to the covers. In alternative designs, the end cover can also be omitted entirely or largely, and the roll shell can be mounted directly, or the bearing journal is formed by slightly reducing the shell diameter, without a recognizable cover being formed as a result.

When used in a calender, such as that known from WO 2019 086 241, the nip load is usually also generated by the roll being moved in the direction of the counter-roll. By tilting one roll slightly in relation to the other roll, the nip profile can be influenced slightly over the calender width. However, this is insufficient for the required accuracy, especially if the properties of the incoming material strip may fluctuate.

To solve the problem, the present invention makes use of the fact that such rollers are hollow and largely empty on the inside. Thus, adjusting means can be inserted in the interior of at least one of the calender rolls in order to deform the roll shell in a targeted manner by the action of force from the inside against the roll shell. It is comparatively easy to introduce several of these adjusting means distributed over the width of the roller. Thus, in such a gap control roll, the transverse profile of the roll shell, and thus also the nip profile, can be adjusted as precisely as required.

The inventors have recognized that this profiling from the inside is still possible without any particular effort, even with very high nip loads. The adjusting means for the profiling can be separated from the load means for generating the mostly very high nip load. The adjustment means only have to be designed for the generation of relatively small profile corrections, while the stroke of the roll or the load in the nip can be realized via the movement of the roll, as described above. This is another advantage compared to the conventional calender. In the method according to the invention, the nip height—and thus the final thickness of the web—can be adjusted independently of the profiling. Load means and adjusting means are essentially decoupled, while in conventional calenders the nip height and nip profile always change at the same time due to tilting of the axis position.

A hard roller surface is often advantageous in order to enable the desired precision during compaction. For example, it can be provided that the surface of the first roller and/or the second roller has a Rockwell hardness of 58 HRC or more, in particular between 60 HRC and 65 HRC.

While it is usually advantageous for the process if both rolls are designed as gap control rolls.

However, since these gap control rolls are more complex and therefore more expensive than classic rolls, it can be economically advantageous to design only one of the rolls as a gap control roll. The advantages of the invention described above can also be achieved with a single gap control roll.

It is usually provided that the first roller and/or the second roller has a diameter of more than 400 mm, in particular between 600 mm and 1000 mm, preferably between 700 mm and 800 mm. Such large diameters are advantageous for both conventional and gap control rolls, since the coating in the calender nip is compressed more cleanly and the coating material is suppressed from rolling out.

In particular, it can also be advantageous if the diameters of the first roller and the second roller differ by a maximum of 10%, in particular are the same.

The adjusting means for the targeted deformation of the roll shell can be realized, for example, in the form of hydraulic support elements. Several of these support elements can be arranged next to one another across the transverse direction of the roller. the Support elements can be controlled individually and press against the roll shell from the inside. The smaller these support elements are and the more of them are provided, the more precisely the transverse profile can be influenced. It is true that the material of the roll shell causes a certain damping, so that only part of the stroke of the support elements on the outside of the shell is effective as a deformation. However, this is not more of a problem since, as described above, only the profile has to be corrected with the actuators - which only requires small deflections, while the nip height is adjusted via separate means.

A possible implementation of the load means for generating the desired nip load can be to mount one of the rolls permanently and to move the other roll, usually together with the associated bearing blocks, hydraulically, electrically or in some other way against the first roll.

Such load means are comparatively easy to implement. However, they have the disadvantage that a nip load can be specified, but not a nip height. This can be particularly disadvantageous when the properties of the incoming strip of material change, resulting in different thicknesses in the calendered strip with the same line load. For stable and smooth operation, it is sometimes desirable to be able to specify a fixed nip height instead of a fixed nip load.

Therefore, in advantageous embodiments, the load means can be provided with positioning means for adjusting the height of the calender nip. The positioning means are adjustable and keep the two rollers at a certain fixed distance from one another. They have to be of comparatively solid design since they have to withstand the pressure to generate the nip load. A possible implementation of such positioning means can be done, for example, via—usually hydraulic—micro-stroke cylinders. Alternatively, the positioning means can also be designed as rotary positioning means that act directly on rotating parts of the roller. Suitable, controllable positioning means also make it possible, among other things, to change the nip height during operation of the calender. This can be advantageous, for example, if the calender nip has to be opened quickly to avoid an accident.

In advantageous embodiments, it can be provided that at least one property of the material strip or the coating is determined before the calender nip, and when a predetermined critical value of this property is reached, the calender nip is opened with the aid of the positioning means.

The property can be determined in a variety of ways, for example using sensors or a camera system.

For example, it can be monitored whether a chunk or lump is carried along on the web. If such a lump passes through the calender nip, it can seriously damage one of the rolls. When such a chunk is detected, the calender nip can be opened very quickly using the positioning means, and the accident can be avoided. The already mentioned micro lifting cylinders are particularly suitable for this. It has also been shown that in many cases it can be advantageous in order to avoid damage if the adjusting means are also relieved when the calender nip is opened as described. This relieving can take place synchronously with the opening of the positioning means. It is often sufficient if the actuating means are relieved for a short time, usually for less than a second, and then loaded again.

Furthermore, it can be advantageous if the temperature of the first roller and/or the second roller on the surface in contact with the strip is between 20°C and 150°C, in particular between 60°C and 120°C, preferably between 80°C and 100°C amounts to. To this end, it is particularly advantageous if means and options for heating and/or cooling the surface of the first roller and/or the second roller are provided. The rollers can be heated and cooled in a wide variety of ways, for example inductively, electrically, via heating/cooling media, etc. The surface can be temperature-controlled directly from the outside. Alternatively or additionally it can Tempering can also take place inside the roller. The latter is often the case with gap control rolls in particular.

It can be particularly advantageous if the temperature of the material strip and the temperature of at least one of the two calender rolls differ by less than 20°, in particular less than 10°, when entering the calender nip.

The coating material can often be kept supple by tempering. In addition, cracks in the coating caused by sudden contact with a roller that is very different in temperature can be avoided.

The strip of material can be provided to the calender at the desired temperature. Alternatively, a device for heating or cooling the strip of material can be provided before the calender nip. In particular, non-contact heating can be provided, for example by irradiating the web.

In many applications it is desirable that the thickness of the coating as it passes through the calender nip is reduced by at least 25%, in particular at least 33%. The strong compression leads to a good reduction in porosity and the thickness of the subsequent electrode.

It can be advantageous to measure the thickness, in particular the transverse thickness profile, of the material strip after it has passed through the calender nip.

In particular, it can be provided that the gap height is adjusted on the basis of the measured thickness of the material strip. This is particularly advantageous in combination with the positioning means mentioned.

If the transverse thickness profile of the material strip is measured, the adjusting means of the gap control roller can advantageously be set on the basis of the transverse thickness profile. This can take place, for example, in the form of a controller or an automatic regulation. With methods according to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to achieve a high plane-parallelism of the coating and/or the material strip after calendering. In advantageous embodiments, the thickness can vary by less than +−3 pm, in particular +−1.5 pm, around the mean thickness, both in the longitudinal direction and in the transverse direction of the material strip.

Regarding the material strip, it should be noted that the carrier foil can in principle be a plastic foil or a metal foil. Aluminum foils are often used in cathodes and copper foils in anodes.

The carrier film can be coated on one side or on both sides.

The coating can be continuous or applied to the film in the form of a pattern, it being possible for parts of the film to be uncoated between the individual elements or segments of the pattern.

For example, the film can be coated with a sequence of segments, with the fields being chosen in size and shape to suit later use in the electrode.

For good and uniform compaction, it can be advantageous if the first roller and the second roller, or their respective roller shell, are more than 100 mm, in particular more than 200 mm, wider than the material strip. It has been shown that the nip height in the central area of the calender can be set very precisely by means of the adjusting means, while the nip profile in the direction of the edge areas can often not be provided with this high level of accuracy, or only with great effort. Problems in the edge area can be avoided by using wider calender rolls or narrower material strips.

With regard to the device, the object is achieved by a calender for compressing a strip of material for producing electrodes of a battery cell by means of a method according to one aspect of the invention. The calender comprises a first roll and a second roll, which together form a calender nip train as well as load means for generating a line load in the calender nip. The first roller and/or the second roller is designed as a gap control roller, which has adjusting means inside in order to deform the roller shell in a targeted manner through the action of force, with these adjusting means being designed in such a way that different forces can be applied across the width of the roller. The calender or the load means are set up to apply a linear load of between 550 N/mm and 7000 N/mm, in particular between 1000 N/mm and 5000 N/mm, in the calender nip.

In order to carry out a method according to the invention, large loads have to be applied in the calender. In addition, the rollers are exposed to harmful vibrations during continuous operation. All of this can cause damage, especially to the gap control rollers. It can therefore be advantageous if the at least one gap control roll of the calender has a roll shell and a cover and a bearing journal on each end face, and the roll shell, the cover and the bearing journal are made in one piece. The transitions, e.g. between the roll shell and the cover, are usually weak points. For example, in a bolted joint, the bolts can loosen due to continued vibration under high loads. This can be avoided by designing these elements in one piece.

Such a one-piece design is by no means obvious in the case of a gap control roller. This means that it is no longer possible to gain access to the inside of the roll by opening or removing the cover. There are, however, a large number of built-in components in the gap control roller, first and foremost the adjusting means for deforming the roller shell.

In order to simplify the accessibility of the built-in components, it is therefore very advantageous if an opening for inserting, removing and supplying the adjusting means is provided in at least one, preferably in both, bearing journals of the gap control roller. These openings are usually arranged centrally in the bearing journal. For example, if the roller has a diameter of 800mm, bearing journals be provided with a diameter of about 500mm. If you see a central opening with a diameter of 380 mm, the wall thickness of the bearing journal is 60 mm. This wall thickness is sufficient to absorb the forces acting on the journal, while the opening is large enough to insert the adjusting means into the roller and, if necessary, to remove them again for maintenance work. In this way, contrary to initial intuition, a one-piece design of a gap control roller as described above can be implemented.

In order to be able to adjust the relationship between the temperature of the roll surface and the temperature of the material strip, suitable heating devices for the rolls or roll shells are often provided in the calender. Alternatively or additionally, a conditioning device, in particular a non-contact conditioning device, for heating and/or cooling the material strip can be provided before the calender nip.

The invention is explained below with reference to schematic figures. The invention is not limited to the embodiments presented here.

The figures show in detail:

FIG. 1 shows a gap control roll for use in a method or calender according to one aspect of the invention.

Figure 2 shows a calender according to an aspect of the invention for use in a method according to an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 2a shows a calender according to a further aspect of the invention for use in a method according to an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a section of a strip of material for use in a method according to a further aspect of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a section through a gap control roll 5, as in a calender 2 bzw. a method according to an aspect of the invention. The gap control roller 5 has a cylindrical roller shell 20 which is in contact with the material web 1 . Covers 21 are attached to the front ends of the roll shell, and a bearing journal 22 is fastened to each cover. These elements 20, 21, 22 are usually made of metal, mostly steel or cast iron. To increase the stability, in particular to improve resistance to vibrations, it is advantageous if the jacket 20, the cover 21 and the bearing journal 22 are made in one piece. In principle, however, these parts can also be joined together by screws or other suitable means.

Inside the gap control roller 5 several adjusting means 6 are arranged side by side. These adjusting means 5 are used to deform the roller shell 20 in a targeted manner by the action of force, these adjusting means 6 being designed in such a way that different forces can be applied across the width of the roller 5 . These adjusting means 6 can be implemented as hydraulic support elements 6, for example. However, other types of adjusting means 6 are also conceivable, for example a row of adjustable bearings arranged next to one another.

In particular, if the outside of the gap control roller 5 is made in one piece as described above, it is advantageous if the bearing journals 22 have openings that are suitable for inserting and installing the adjusting means 6 inside the roller. The gap control roller 5 in FIG. 1 also has a yoke 3 which is also guided through the openings in the bearing journals 22. The adjusting means 6 can be supported on this yoke.

FIG. 2 shows a possible embodiment of a calender 2 according to one aspect of the invention. The calender 2 comprises a first roll 11 and a second roll 12, which together form a calender nip 13 in which the material web 1 is compressed. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which both the first roll 11 and the second roll 12 are designed as gap control rolls 5, in particular as gap control rolls 5 according to FIG. Alternatively, only one of the two rolls, for example the first roll 11, can be designed as a gap control roll 5, while the second roll 12 is designed as a conventional roll Both rolls 11, 12 are mounted in respective stands 25, with the gap-regulating rolls 5 being rotatably mounted on the roll shell 20 with the covers 21 and bearing journals 22.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the first roller 11 is arranged at the top and fixed to a supporting structure 26 via the stand 25 . The second roller 12 is arranged below the first roller 11 . It is connected to the load means 7 . These load means 7 are usually hydraulic elements 7 which are capable of pressing the second roll 12 together with the stands 25 against the first roll 11 and thereby generating the load in the calender nip 13 . These load elements 7 can be used to generate the high line loads in the calender nip 13 of between 550 N/mm and 7000 N/mm, in particular of 1000 N/mm and 5000 N/mm, which are required for a method according to one aspect of the invention. The actuators 6 in the first roll 11 and/or the second roll 12 are independent of the generation of the nip load. These are used to set a very precise and uniform nip profile, as a result of which the extreme requirements for the uniformity of the thickness of the calendered coating 1b are met be able. Furthermore, the calender has positioning means 8 in FIG. These positioning means 8 serve as spacers between the two rollers 11, 12. They can be used to precisely predetermine the thickness of the finished, compacted material strip, independently of the pressures specified by the load means 7. These positioning means 8 can advantageously be designed as hydraulic or electric micro-stroke cylinders 8 . By means of such positioning means 8, it is very easily possible to specify 2 different nip heights in the calender. On the one hand, this enables the calender to be used very flexibly. In addition, it also enables a quick reaction to avoid an accident. For example, before it enters the calender nip 13, properties of the material strip can be recorded--for example by means of sensors or by means of a camera system. If a possibly critical deviation from the norm is detected, the calender nip 13 can be opened further quickly and automatically by means of the positioning means 8, and an accident can be avoided. Synchronously with the positioning means 8, the actuating means 6 can also be relieved for a short time. The positioning means 8 should be dimensioned depending on the pressures required during use, or even better depending on the pressures that can be achieved by the load means 7 . In addition to this pressure, they should still have a certain excess force of 5%-10% in order to be able to open and close the calender nip 13 reliably even with or against extreme nip loads.

In the calender 2 shown in FIG. 2, external bearings 23 are used for both rolls 11, 12. These bearings 23 engage the bearing journals 22 of the first roller 11 and/or the second roller 12 from the outside. Particularly when using precision bearings, extremely high accuracy of the calender nip 13 can be achieved in this embodiment, particularly in combination with the adjusting means 6 and positioning means 8 such as micro stroke cylinders 8 .

In some applications, however, an accuracy that is not quite as high can be tolerated if the outlay and costs for the calender 2 can be reduced as a result.

The calender 2 shown in FIG. 2a represents a possible alternative here, which still enables significantly higher accuracy than a conventional calender, but can be produced more cheaply than the calender 2 of FIG Execution from Figure 2 essentially due to the bearing of the rollers 11, 12 or the roller shells 20.

In the case of the first roller 11 and/or the second roller 12, the end cover 21 can be dispensed with. The roll shell 20 is mounted directly here, or the bearing journals 22 are, as indicated in the figure, formed by a slight reduction in the shell diameter, without a recognizable cover 21 arising as a result. The bearings 23 are mounted inside in this embodiment. Such an embodiment allows the use of less expensive standard bearings 23, which leads to a noticeable reduction in manufacturing costs.

A ring 24 can also be provided between the inner bearing 23 and the yoke 3, as shown in the first roller 11 in FIG. 2a, in order to prevent the inherent stroke. In the illustrated second roller 12, the shell 20 can move relative to the yoke 3 up and down. This is supposed to be different Possibilities in the design of rolls with internal bearings 23 clarify.

In the case of the calender 2 of FIG. 2a, it is difficult to provide micro-stroke cylinders 8, which act on the stands 25, as positioning means 8. However, if there is no positioning means 8 at all, the calender 2 can only be operated in a force-constant mode of operation. For use in a method according to the invention, however, it is advantageous to be able to specify a fixed nip height for the calender nip 13 . For this reason, positioning means 8 are provided in FIG. Such rotary positioning means 8 are then usually less precise than the micro-stroke cylinders 8 and also usually do not allow such a rapid reaction to disturbances. However, they enable the nip height to be specified well enough for many applications.

FIG. 3 shows a section of a strip of material 1 for use in a method according to one aspect of the invention. The strip of material shown here has a film 1a. This is usually a metal foil 1a, for example made of aluminum or copper. In FIG. 3, a respective coating 1b is applied to both sides of this film 1a. This can be the same coating material or different materials. In alternative versions of the method, a coating 1b can be provided on only one side of the film 1a.

In principle, the film 1a can be coated throughout. In contrast, FIG. 3 shows an advantageous variant in which the coating 1b is applied to both sides of the film 1a in a pattern of separate segments 1c. These segments 1c correspond to the size of the electrodes to be produced later. These segments 1c are often between 50 mm and 150 mm (preferably 55 mm to 105 mm) wide and between 500 mm and 5000 mm (preferably 700 mm to 3000 mm) long.

The segments 1c of the upper side and the lower side are usually arranged one above the other, although they are usually not completely congruent, but segments 1c on one side are usually slightly larger than those on the other side. For this purpose, it is particularly advantageous if the first roller 11 you the second Roller 12 each have a diameter of more than 400 mm, in particular 700 mm and more, and/or the diameters of the first roller 11 and the second roller 12 differ by a maximum of 10%, in particular are the same.

Reference List

1 material band

1a slide

1b coating

1c segment

2 calenders

3 yoke

4 calender nip

5 Gap control roller

6 setting means

7 load means

8 positioning means

11 first roll

12 second roll

13 calender nip

20 roller shell

21 cover

22 bearing journals

23 camp

24 rings

25 stands

26 supporting structure

Claims

patent claims

1 . Method for compressing a strip of material (1) for producing electrodes of a battery cell, the strip of material (1) comprising a carrier film (1a) which is provided with a coating (1b) on at least one side, the compacting by means of a calender nip (4), which is formed by a first roll (11) and a second roll (12), and wherein load means (7) are provided for generating a line load in the calender nip (4), characterized in that the first roll (11 ) and/or the second roller (12) is designed as a gap control roller (5) which has adjusting means (6) in its interior in order to deform the roller shell (20) in a targeted manner by the action of force, these adjusting means (6) being designed in such a way that that different forces can be applied across the width of the roll (11, 12, 5), and that the compression in the calender nip (4) with a line load between 550 N/mm and 7000 N/mm, in particular between 1000 N/mm and 5000 N/mm.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first roller (11) and / or the second roller (12) has a diameter of more than 400 mm, in particular between 600 mm and 1000 mm, preferably between 700 mm and 800 mm .

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the targeted deformation of the roll shell (20) of the first roll (11) and/or the second roll (12) via adjusting means (6) in the form of a plurality of hydraulic support elements (6 ) takes place, which are provided inside the respective roller.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the load means additional positioning means (8) for adjusting the nip height of the Include calender nips (4), which are preferably in the form of Mikrohubzylindern (8). The method according to claim 4, characterized in that before the calender nip (4) at least one property of the material strip (1) or the coating (1b) is determined, and when a predetermined critical value of this property is reached, the calender nip (4) with the help of the Positioning means (8) is opened. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the temperature of the first roller (11) and/or the second roller (12) on the surface in contact with the strip is between 20°C and 150°C, in particular between 60°C and 120°C , preferably between 80°C and 100°C. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when entering the calender nip, the temperature of the material strip and the temperature of at least one of the two calender rolls differ by less than 20°, in particular less than 10°. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that after passing through the calender nip (4), the thickness, in particular the transverse thickness profile, of the material strip (1) is measured. Method according to claim 8, characterized in that the gap height is adjusted on the basis of the measured thickness of the material strip (1). Method according to one of Claims 8 or 9, characterized in that the transverse thickness profile of the material strip (1) is measured and the adjustment means (6) of the gap control roller (5) are set on the basis of the transverse thickness profile. 11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first roller (11) and the second roller (12) are more than 100 mm, in particular more than 200 mm wider than the material strip (1).

12. Calender (2) for compressing a strip of material (1) for the production of electrodes of a battery cell by means of a method according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a first roller (11) and a second roller (12) which together form a calender nip (4) and load means (7) for generating a line load in the calender nip (4), the first roll (11) and/or the second roll (12) being designed as a gap control roll (5) which has adjusting means (6) in its interior, in order to deform the roll shell (20) in a targeted manner by the action of force, with these adjusting means (6) being designed in such a way that different forces can be applied across the width of the roll, and with the calender (2) being set up in the calender nip (4) to apply a line load between 550 N/mm and 7000 N/mm, in particular between 1000 N/mm and 5000 N/mm.

13. Calender according to Claim 12, characterized in that the at least one gap control roll (5) has a roll shell (20) and a cover (21) and a bearing journal (22) on each end face, and the roll shell (20), the cover (21) and bearing journal (22) are made in one piece.

14. Calender according to one of claims 12 or 13, characterized in that a conditioning device, in particular a contactless conditioning device for heating and/or cooling the material strip (1) is provided before the calender nip.

15. Calender according to one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the surface of the first roll (11) and / or the second roll (12) has a hardness - 21 - according to Rockwell of 58 HRC or more, in particular between 60 HRC and 65

has HRC.