On 20–21 October 2026, the National Institute of Chemistry hosted the first MOFTherm consortium meeting in Ljubljana. Partners from Slovenia, Norway and Switzerland met to review the first six months of project activities and discuss the development of innovative materials for sustainable battery thermal management. The project is coordinated by the National Institute of Chemistry’s Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Technology.
Supported through M-ERA.NET, the project combines expertise in porous materials, phase-change materials, carbon materials, computational modelling and industrial production to address the growing need for efficient battery cooling.
The project aims to develop multifunctional composites that combine bio-based phase-change materials, porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and recycled carbon materials. Innovation also lies in developing sustainable preparation methods and shaping the composites into forms suitable for integration with batteries. Alongside material development and testing, the partners will use computational modelling to evaluate thermal behaviour and assess the environmental impacts and economic feasibility of the proposed solutions. Potential applications include electric vehicles, stationary energy storage and portable electronics.
During the two-day meeting, discussions covered material selection, synthesis and shaping, preparation for battery integration, and the data required for life-cycle and techno-economic assessments. A session involving the National Institute of Chemistry’s Knowledge Transfer Office focused on protecting promising results and exploring routes towards industrial collaboration and future commercialisation.