Power Generation and Storage for Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAV)

Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) have emerged as a critical need for the U.S. Air Force. MAVs are envisioned to conduct a variety of indoor and outdoor reconnaissance missions and must be highly mobile and man-portable. Furthermore, many of the envisioned missions for MAVs require significant endurance. Unfortunately, current state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries are not capable of providing sufficient energy while remaining within the highly constrained mass and volume budgets for MAVs. As a result, significant advancements in lithium ion battery technologies (e.g., increased energy and power density) are required to enable MAVs to execute their intended missions. To address this need, ADA Technologies, Inc., proposes to continue advancements made in Phase I to develop advanced nanocomposite electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. When combined with a suitable ionic liquid electrolyte, the proposed technology will provide substantially greater energy and power density, cycle life and safety as compared to state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries. The proposed program will establish electrode synthesis protocols, relevant-scale electrode processes and ultimately design and produce full-scale prototype lithium-ion cells for integration into a target test-bed platform.