A Solid State Bipolar Battery for High Power Sonobuoy Applications

U.S. Naval operations, like all U.S. Military operations, have come to depend more and more on high power electronics for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), communication, targeting and other mission related activities. This has created a huge increase in demand for the energy sources – a demand that has not been met adequately by current technologies. Sonobuoys, which are critical to the mission of the Navy, require high power and high energy density batteries in order to ensure long duration and high power operation. Presently magnesium/silver chloride batteries and a number of different types of lithium primary batteries (e.g. Li/SO2 battery 260WH/kg, Li/Thionyl battery 450 WH/kg or Li/CFx battery) are being used or developed for sonobuoys. However, the costs of these batteries are very high and their peak power cannot meet the requirement (i.e. > 6500 W) for sonobuoy use. Moreover, these batteries tend to vent toxic fumes during high power discharging. None of the available battery chemistries provides sufficient power and duration for this particular sonobuoy application. Therefore, there exists a strong need to develop a new battery to serve this market.      In this program, low cost electrochemical couples will be employed and, through a combination of a 3D electrode structure, bipolar configuration and polymer electrolyte, a high power, low cost and long shelf life battery will be developed. Additionally, this battery will not have the safety problems inherent in current batteries. In our Phase I work the feasibility of our innovative approaches has been successfully demonstrated and the performance of the battery has been demonstrated on the full cell level. In this proposed Phase II program, a prototype battery will be designed, fabricated and extensively tested. By the end of the program, prototype batteries will be delivered to the Navy for independent validation. We will commence the commercialization effort by working with strategic partners in order to enter into a manufacturing agreement in order to ensure successfully transition to the fleet.