SBIR Phase II: Improved Lithium-Ion Batteries via Solution-Deposited Nanolayers on the Surface of Formed Electrodes

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to reduce the cost of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) while simultaneously improving their performance. In doing so, the project aims to accelerate the decarbonization of two of the largest sources of CO2 emissions: the energy and transportation sectors. To date, cost reductions in LIBs have been mostly driven by economies-of-scale, but these reductions are now reaching a plateau. To further drive down costs, this SBIR project will demonstrate a coating innovation that improves battery capacity and lifetime while eliminating certain costly and time-consuming bottlenecks that exist in current LIB manufacturing. The combined result of these enhancements will be a LIB with greatly reduced cost per kWh relative to the state of the art, ultimately enabling cost-competitive electric vehicles as well as widespread renewable energy storage. This SBIR Phase II project will focus on the application of protective thin-film coatings on LIB electrodes using a low-cost, easily integrated process. These coatings protect LIBs against degradation during charge and discharge, which extends battery lifetime, improves energy density, and enables next-generation electrode materials with greater capacity. This project will scale the company's coating technology as demonstrated during Phase I from lab-scale coating tools to a pilot “roll-to-roll” (R2R) coater that matches real-world LIB factory throughput, thereby de-risking integration of the coating process into standard LIB manufacturing lines. Phase II tasks will include optimization of process parameters to meet throughput targets, equipment design to ensure coating uniformity, and continued development of thin-film deposition chemistry to maximize cell performance improvements. By its conclusion, the Phase II project will demonstrate prototype LIBs with an anticipated >20% enhanced energy density as well as 30% reduced cost/kWh relative to the state of the art. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.