Advanced Solid-State Hybrid Battery-Ultracapacitor Device for High-Energy and High-Power Applications

The power demands for a wide variety of advanced battlefield equipment can range from high-energy for long-term operation to high-rate pulse power. A major drawback of current power storage technologies for these applications is their inability to meet the demands of both high-energy and high-power delivery in a single device. State-of-the-art batteries are typically high-energy devices with insufficient high-rate capability for pulse power applications, while electrochemical capacitors are characterized by inherently high power and low energy. Therefore, a strong need exists for a device that can simultaneously fulfill the unique high-power and high-energy requirements for battlefield applications. To provide a new generation of battlefield-specific batteries, Giner, Inc. proposes a new type of hybrid, solid-state cell that takes advantage of the high-energy and high-power capabilities of batteries and capacitors in a single device by combining a symmetric capacitor and a rechargeable battery in one unit cell. Preliminary data is shown for some hybrid devices that have been successfully fabricated and tested. We expect that successful implementation of this technology will also lead towards power storage devices that are safer, conformal, and flexible for a wide range of applications.