SBIR Phase I: Development of Renewable Nanoparticle Platform for Green Energy Production and Storage Applications

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to use self-assembling nanoparticle systems made from renewable, bio-based materials to replace manufacturing processes that conventionally rely on high-energy reaction conditions and petroleum-based chemicals. This innovation will enhance technical understanding of the property-performance relationship between chemistry formulations, nanoparticle morphology, and product performance. This project will enable US manufacturers to reduce their production and disposal of toxic waste and utilize locally produced feedstocks and inputs in manufacturing process that are lower in carbon intensity, and will also create new markets for US produced feedstocks and materials. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to optimize a green nanoparticle-forming solvent system that self-assamble to function as "microreactor" vessels that can produce cathode materials which are used in rechargeable battery systems for the growing energy storage market. Solution-based synthesis methods have been used to prepare different cathode materials, but control over product structure and quality requires detailed understanding of the solution chemistry, which can be obscured by downstream variables that are introduced during electrode formation. This screening process will be streamlined by characterizing and quantifying the properties of intermediates produced in order to determine optimal chemistry formulation, particle size, and calcination conditions for battery performance. The approach will use rapid characterization methods that require only microscale quantities of material in order to develop a sensitivity matrix that relates the impact of renewable composition inputs and reaction variables on cathode material size and morphology, allowing prediction of overall battery performance. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.