Rapid Laser 3D Printing of Reversible Solid Oxide Electrochemical Cell Stacks for Producing Pure O2 from CO2 and Storing Electricity into Carbon

This NASA EPSCoR research project will specifically contribute to the mission priorities of NASA’s Glenn Research Center (GRC) in space power generation, storage, distribution, and management. Specifically, the purpose of this research project is the development of a highly compacted reversible solid oxide electrochemical cell (R-SOECC) stack manufactured by a rapid laser 3D printing technique for efficient energy storage and oxygen (O2) production through redox cycles of CO2-CO or CO2-C. This technology will use the environmentally available CO2 on Mars to facilitate storage of solar electricity and the creation of pure oxygen, directly benefitting NASA’s “Moon to Mars” campaign. The success of this project will provide new energy storage concepts and materials, and new advanced manufacturing techniques that will contribute to NASA’s mission to drive advances in science, technology and space exploration. The implementation and effort to attain the objectives of this project will contribute to a highly skilled, competent, and diverse workforce in the following areas: 1) Contribution to and promotion of the development of research capabilities in South Carolina (SC) in areas of vital importance to the NASA mission. 2) Improvement in the ability of SC to gain support from sources outside the NASA EPSCoR program. 3) Development of partnerships between and within NASA GRC, Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, and Benedict College (an HBCU). 4) Contributions to the overall research infrastructure, science and technology capabilities of higher education, and economic development of SC. To fulfill the above objectives, this proposal identifies four tasks. Task 1: Develop Novel Coking Resistive Electrodes for CO2-CO Electrochemical Redox Cycles. Development of new coking resistive electrodes with metal alloy nanoparticles supported double perovskite matrix materials will provide for the steady operation of R-SOECCs. Task 2: Develop Novel Electrodes for CO2-C Electrochemical Redox Cycles. Study of the CO2-C electrochemical redox cycle reaction kinetics and stability will contribute to the development of promising fuel electrode materials. Task 3: Study Laser 3D Printing of R-SOECC Components. This research will develop CAD design and 3D printing processes for R-SOECC components and resolve issues of cracking that occur with the rapid laser processing of ceramics. Task 4: Manufacture, Evaluate, and Characterize R-SOECC Cells and Stacks. This project will fabricate R-SOECC single cells and stacks using the L3DP technique and will test the performance of the single cells and stacks through postmortem analysis of the devices. This research on energy materials and devices and the related advanced manufacturing technology will contribute to the establishment of a collaborative relationship between NASA GRC and SC to accommodate the multiple missions of NASA and the mission of South Carolina’s Vision 2025. First, this research will directly address the power storage and oxygen production challenges critical to advancing NASA's On to Mars Mission. This research proposal closely aligns with the mission of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate to develop advanced power generation and storage systems for deep space missions and to develop small power components and instruments for small spacecraft. Next, the research will contribute directly to the development of solid oxide fuel cells and electrolysis, CO2 reduction/utilization, and advanced manufacturing based on 3D printing and laser processing. Finally, the successful implementation of this project will significantly improve the science and technology infrastructure for research and education in related fields in SC.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.