IGF::OT::IGF ENERGY STORAGE IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF SPACE-BASED PLATFORMS ACROSS THE FULL SPECTRUM OF EX…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF ENERGY STORAGE IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF SPACE-BASED PLATFORMS ACROSS THE FULL SPECTRUM OF EXPLORATION, SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTATION, DEFENSE, COMMUNICATIONS AND MONITORING MISSIONS. NASA HAS SET TARGETS OF 265 WH/KG OF 675 WH/L FOR BATTERIES FOR NEAR-TERM ENERGY STORAGE APPLICATIONS. LI-ION BATTERY TECHNOLOGY HAS THE HIGHEST ENERGY DENSITY AMONG RECHARGEABLE BATTERY TECHNOLOGIES. HOWEVER, ACHIEVING THE NEAR-TERM GOALS REQUIRE IMPLEMENTATION OF NEXT-GENERATION ACTIVE MATERIALS. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP LI-ION CELLS THAT MEET NASA'S NEAR TERM TARGETS BY COMBINING OUR CAM-7 CATHODE MATERIAL, THE HIGHEST ENERGY CONTENT MARKET-READY CATHODE MATERIAL AVAILABLE WITH MARKET-READY SI-BASED ANODE MATERIALS. BECAUSE OF ITS HIGH REVERSIBLE CAPACITY (>205 MAH/G), HIGH DISCHARGE VOLTAGE (AVERAGE 3.85 V VS. LI) AND HIGH DENSITY (4.8 G/CC), CAM-7 CAN YIELD HIGHER ENERGY LI-ION CELLS THAN ANY OTHER MARKET-READY CATHODE MATERIAL. A VERSION OF CAM-7 TARGETING PORTABLE POWER AND VEHICLE APPLICATIONS HAS BEEN FULLY DEVELOPED AND, AS PART OF ITS COMMERCIALIZATION, IS CURRENTLY BEING TRANSITIONED TO A 50 TON PER YEAR PLANT IN MASSACHUSETTS. IN THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM, TIAX WILL OPTIMIZE THE CAM-7 COMPOSITION TO YIELD THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE CELL ENERGY WHILE STILL MEETING THE LIFE TARGETS, AND SIMULTANEOUSLY OPTIMIZE AN ANODE ELECTRODE INCORPORATING A MARKET-READY SI-BASED MATERIAL. TIAX WILL THEN COMBINE THEM IN LI-ION CELLS THAT DEMONSTRATE THE RESULTING SYSTEM'S ABILITY TO MEET ALL NASA NEAR-TERM ENERGY, PERFORMANCE AND LIFE TARGETS. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL DEMONSTRATE, AT THE 200 MAH CELL LEVEL, PERFORMANCE AND CYCLING OF ELECTRODE DESIGNS PROJECTED TO MEET AND EXCEED NASA'S NEARTERM TARGETS WHEN THEY ARE INCORPORATED IN 18650 CELLS. A SUCCESSFUL PHASE I PROGRAM WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A PHASE II PROGRAM IN WHICH SUCH 18650 CELLS ARE DEVELOPED, ASSEMBLED, AND RIGOROUSLY TESTED AGAINST NASA REQUIREMENTS.