Cathode Improvements for Thermal Batteries

Thermal batteries are mission critical components which provide power to military weapon systems for electronics, fusing, sensing and actuation. Today’s thermal battery packaging and performance requirements are being pushed to the limits. System designers are demanding higher power levels over longer operating times (hence, higher usable energy output) in smaller, lighter packages. To meet this demand, we propose to demonstrate significant improvements in energy density, power density and operational lifetime using a new cathode material. The particle size range of the new material will cover micrometer to nanometer particle range. Material composition and processing will be optimized and performance improvement will be demonstrated in Phase I by means of single cell testing. In Phase II, ENSER will demonstrate the performance of the new cathode material in a selected PAC-3 battery.