NOVEL HIGH POWER DENSITY BATTERY DESIGN FOR SPACE PRIME POWER

A RADICALLY NEW CONCEPT OF A VERY HIGH PULSE POWER DENSITY BATTERY IS PROPOSED FOR PRELIMINARY EVALUATION IN PHASE I. IT IS BASED ON THE USE OF A NEW CLASS OF ACTIVATED CARBON FIBERS (ACF) AND THEIR MATS OR FABRICS AS STARTING ELECTRODE MATERIALS WHICH WOULD BE, FOR INSTANCE, P-DOPED BYE ELECTROCHEMICAL INSERTION OF ASF6 IONS FROM AN APPROPRIATE ORGANIC ELECTROLYTE AND COUPLED WITH A SOLID LITHIUM ANODETO PRODUCE NEW HYBRID CELLS WITH GALVANIC AND SOME CAPACITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS. THE EXTREMELY HIGH SPECIFIC SURFACE AREAS OF THE ACF MATERIALS AND THE HIGH ENERGY DENSITY-EMF OF LITHIUM ARE EXPECTED TO LEAD TO A NEW CLASS OF VERY HIGH POWER DENSITY BATTERIES WITH PEAK POWERS UP TO 1000 WATTS/KG OR GREATER COMPARED TO 100-150 FOR TODAYS BATTERIES.