Chemically Resistant Polymer-Based Oxygen Permeable Membrane for Lithium Air Batteries

This Phase I program seeks to design and develop novel polymer membranes that are highly permeable to oxygen, and also impermeable to organic carbonates and ethers. The membranes will be used in the air cathode of lithium-air batteries, a unique battery system because the cathode material is not stored in the battery but simply extracted from ambient air and used as needed. Our approach is based on unique hyperbranched polymer technology with a chemical composition that will pair high oxygen permeability with strong chemical resistance, as well low moisture permeability. The hyperbranched polymer approach also provides the ability to tune in appropriate levels of crosslink density to optimize the mechanical properties of the material. Lithium-air batteries show great promise as the ultimate battery in terms of energy and power density and their market potential is in the billions of dollars. The membrane being developed by Oxazogen will help make the lithium-air battery a marketable success and our commercialization partner is committed to commercializing this technology.