Exploratory Development of Novel Manganese Oxide Cathode Materials for High Performance Lithium-ion Batteries

Yardney Technical Products proposes to develop low cost, long life, safe and environmentally benign lithium-ion batteries ideal for dual use applications. Phase I of the project will focus on the development of improved battery materials. Novel lithium manganese oxide spinel materials will be prepared and characterized. Commercially available spinel materials will be evaluated and their electrochemical performance compared to the novel materials prepared as part of this project. A wide variety of carbons and carbon treatment methods will be evaluated and optimized anode materials developed. Novel organic non-aqueous electrolytes will be developed to enhance cell performance at ambient, low and high temperatures. Prismatic one ampere hour batteries will be fabricated using the novel materials developed in this project and Yardney's proprietary packaging technology to demonstrate the improved material's potential utility. The improved battery materials will permit the production of low cost batteries which will offer exceptional electrochemical performance in a wide variety of applications and environments. Batteries produced with the materials developed in this project will offer greater performance at lower cost relative to current batteries thus will be ideal for a wide variety of commercial and military applications ranging from personal electronic communication devices to electric vehicles to power tools. Due to the recent success of commercial lithium-ion batteries, rapid commercialization of products based on the proposed technology is likely.