Compact and/or MEMS-based gas-sampling sensors for analysis of battery offgassing

Availability of robust and reliable sensors for battery health monitoring is essential to the safe implementation and use of re-chargeable batteries in military applications. Lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, silver-zinc, and lithium ion batteries, for example, are critical to a number of existing and emerging power systems in naval vehicles. When over-charged, degraded or damaged, each of these batteries emits hazardous gases that can cause explosions if left unchecked. In the proposed Phase I SBIR project, NexTech Materials, Ltd. will leverage its ceramic gas sensor technology platform to develop sensor devices aimed at battery health monitoring for Navy applications. Two types of sensors will be pursued. Through optimization of its chemi-resistive hydrogen sensor technology, NexTech will develop a sensor capable of detecting low concentrations of hydrogen for monitoring of hydrogen-emitting batteries (i.e. lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, and silver-zinc). Through material substitutions and optimization studies, NexTech will also adapt its sensor technology for monitoring gaseous species emitted from degraded lithium ion batteries. In the Phase I Option, NexTech will design a prototype device and test plan, for fabrication and execution in Phase II, that integrates these discreet sensor technologies into a single battery health monitoring device.