High Energy, Long Life Cells for On-Board Sensors

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to construct and demonstrate a battery capable of delivering 400Wh/kg to wireless sensors required in a shipboard environment. The energy density will be attained by combining high capacity Si anodes with high energy cathodes. During the Phase I effort, PSI successfully demonstrated the ability to integrate together these high capacity materials through the construction of pouch cells with electrodes of various loadings. This testing demonstrated the ability to scale the technology and achieve the design conditions required to build and deliver the targeted high energy density cell during Phase II. The Phase II efforts will build upon the Phase I by constructing pouch cells with PSI’s silicon composite anode material and high energy cathode material using the developed cell design. Extended cycling of cells will be conducted to demonstrate the lifetime performance of the cells is suitable for use in the final sensor application. Cells will be constructed and integrated into sensors to demonstrate the ability of the PSI battery to meet the Navy’s requirements. The result of this Phase II effort will be a safe, high energy battery design that can be used to meet the increased power needs of Navy sensors and equipment.