New Thermal Battery Electrochemistry

Thermal batteries are mission critical components which provide power to military weapon systems for electronics, fusing, sensing and actuation. Current and future thermal battery packaging and performance requirements are being pushed to the limits, demanding higher power levels over longer operating times (hence, higher usable energy output) in smaller, lighter packages. These increases are required for: (1) advanced munitions and strategic defense applications employing multifunctional seeker and sensor packages, (2) active data links supporting a net-centric capability and/or (3) increased maneuvering capability. In order to meet these demands, ENSER proposes to develop and demonstrate significant increases in energy density, power density and operational lifetime over state-of-the-art LiSi/CoS2 chemistry. Potential new anode and cathode material pairings will be identified and initially evaluated in single cell tests prior to incorporation into prototype batteries. The short-term goal is 100% increases in specific energy over baseline LiSi/FeS2, which will be accomplished by identification of a new cathode material. When paired with a new anode system material, the specific energy will be increased by 2.5X over baseline LiSi/FeS2.