Long Life, High Energy Cell Development

NASA has a need to develop higher energy density battery systems to meet the power requirements of future energy devices. In this proposed Phase I program, PSI will develop an advanced cathode electrode structure that allows for the construction of lithium ion cells with long life (>250 cycles) and energy densities 265Wh/kg. The novel cathode electrode will reduce detrimental reactions with the electrolyte at high voltages that result in inefficient cycling and enhance performance fade. Initially, PSI will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach by constructing and performing steady state cycling of lab sized silicon/cathode cells. This testing will highlight the ability to construct cells that can maintain their performance over hundreds of cycles. Scale-up of the optimized processes will then be carried out to support construction of prototype Ah sized cells and demonstrate MRL and TRLs of 4. Phase II efforts would focus on construction of larger cells, demonstrating the cycling performance, and the readiness of the technology for integration into prototype battery packs for initial field testing.

The proposed technology could be utilized in all battery applications. The advanced cathode structures would improve cell cycling performance extending the total energy available over a given mission lifetime.

The initial market for the proposed technology is military aerospace applications where space is limited and battery energy density and cycle life is critical. In addition, the technology also would be well suited to powering microdevices, such as remote sensing devices, that would benefit from the increased runtimes and reduced battery size enabled by the increased battery energy density. The technology can be further extended to commercial devices such as hybrid and electric vehicles, cordless power tools, and portable communications such as cell phones and two-way radios.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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.