Advanced Anode Materials for Improved Power in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) has become an essential need for the U.S. Warfighter. In support of this need, the use of autonomous vehicles has grown considerably over the past decade. In particular, the use of small unmanned ground vehicles (SUGV) has proven to be invaluable as they minimize a Soldiers exposure to hazards while providing critical, non-line-of-sight intelligence. Many current autonomous vehicles including SUGVs utilize rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for on-board power to meet the vehicles portability (i.e., lightweight) and stealth operation requirements. However, the low specific power and energy of current state-of-the-art (SOTA) lithium-ion imposes a major constraint and challenge to current and future Warfighter operations by limiting the operational performance of these vehicles. As such, the U.S. Army has considerable interest in developing rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that possess both increased energy and power per unit mass. To address this need, ADA Technologies, Inc. proposes a program to increase the power and energy in lithium-ion battery cells through a combination of reduced internal resistance and increased cell voltage. The proposed Phase I program will establish material synthesis protocols, material scale-up, proof-of-concept cell production and demonstration and ultimately design and produce a full-scale.