Advanced Cathode for High Energy Li-Air Batteries

The energy needs of naval aircraft are increasing significantly as the Navy modernizes its fleet. Current lithium-ion cells are insufficient for meeting these requirements. Li-air chemistry has the potential to meet the Navys energy demands. However, the state-of-the-art non-aqueous Li-air cells suffer from sluggish charging kinetics, clogging of mass transfer pathways and high resistance originating from the discharge product of Li2O2 at the cathode. An advanced cathode with low overpotential, high reversibility and good cyclability is needed to produce the Navys required gains. Lynntech proposes to develop an advanced hierarchical cathode based on two-dimensional holey graphene and hybrid metal oxide bifunctional catalysts to enable high energy, high power, and long cycle life Li-air batteries. During the Phase I, Lynntech will prepare, characterize, and evaluate advanced cathodes at the full cell level. In addition, Lynntech will perform a critical safety and electrical performance evaluation of Li-air cells. During the Phase II, Lynntech will optimize the cathode materials and structures to develop a prototype Li-air battery and determine performance characteristics. Lynntech will also initiate scale-up and design processes as well as develop preliminary cost structure.