Novel Polymer Electrolytes with High Ambient Temperature Conductivity

50959-98-I Novel Polymer Electrolytes with High Ambient Temperature Conductivity--Covalent Associates, Inc., 10 State Street, Woburn, MA 01801-6820; (781) 938-1140 Dr. K. M. Abraham, Principal Investigator Dr. K. M. Abraham, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER82555 Amount: $74,716 Despite a 20-year effort, the development of solvent-free polymer electrolytes with a conductivity greater than 10-3 Siemans/centimeter (10-3 S/cm) at room temperature has remained an elusive goal in the development of safer, high energy density batteries for applications such as electric vehicle propulsion. A solution to this problem is provided by a class of novel composite electrolytes in which the high conductivity and good mechanical strength of inorganic glasses are complemented by the structural flexibility of organic polymers. The resulting glass-polymer composite electrolytes can be prepared as thin membranes with > 10-3 S/cm conductivity at 25¿Centigrade. The Phase I project will involve the following tasks: (1) synthesis of composite electrolytes, (2) characterization of the electrolytes, and (3) testing of lithium solid polymer electrolyte cells. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Polymer electrolyte batteries are expected to be safer than their liquid electrolyte counterparts. Electric vehicle propulsion is a very important application for them. Other uses of polymer batteries are for consumer electronics such as cellular telephones, notebook computers, videocameras and pagers. _