A Phase I SBIR Proposal to Lower the Cost and Improve the Manufacturing of Li-ion Batteries

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are attractive candidates for use as power sources in military, aerospace, commercial, and vehicular applications because they have high specific energy (up to 200 Wh/kg) and energy density (~ 500 Wh/L) and long cycle life (1,000 – 80,000 cycles currently depending on the depth of cycling). However, the production of these batteries for defense applications is often in low volumes that can lead to increased costs and defects compared to mass-produced Li-ion batteries for the commercial sector. There is a need within the Army, Navy, other military services, NASA, and the commercial sector to lower the manufacturing cost and reliability of low volume systems. The proposed effort will use a new manufacturing technique to simplify the construction that will lower cost and improve the reliability of Li-ion cells.