High Energy Lithium Ion Batteries with Superior Abuse Tolerance

Phase I will confirm the safety benefits of newly developed lithium cobalt phosphate (LCP) as a high energy cathode material for rechargeable lithium ion batteries. LCP cathode fabrication will be scaled up in sufficient quantity to produce at least 20 prototype cells with >1Ah capacity. The prototype cells will support abuse tolerance evaluation and benchmarked against commercial lithium cobalt oxide cells of comparable format and capacity. The Phase I option will evaluate safety-enhanced electrolytes for compatibility with LCP, with particular attention on stability at the 5.0V LCP charging voltage. Phase II will develop a comprehensive safety-enhanced cell designed around the LCP cathode. Prototype cells will be produced sufficient maturity and quantity for sample pack assembly. A minimum of 5 abuse-tolerant cells will be delivered to ARL. The product arising from this SBIR program will be a high energy, high voltage lithium ion battery with superior abuse tolerance. The initial market is expected to be soldier portable power, in particular as a replacement for the lithium cobalt oxide cells used in soldier conformal battery packs BB 2590 batteries. Other military markets include unmanned vehicles and auxiliary power for silent watch. The major commercial market is products such as tablet computers.