PFI:BIC Development of Hybrid Cathodes and Separators for High-energy and High-power Lithium-Sulfur Secondary Batteries

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This Partnership for Innovation project from Cornell University will create carbon-based nanocomposite materials suitable for advanced batteries, super capacitors, and magnetic storage media. The approach relies on co-polymerization of inorganic and organic polymer precursors to create composite materials in which inorganic nanoparticles are uniformly embedded in an electrically conductive carbon host. This platform technology will be applied to the development of new high-energy battery cathodes and anodes based on metal/carbon, metal sulfide/carbon, and metal oxide/carbon nanocomposites. Batteries based on the new composite electrodes offer energy storage capacities four to five times higher than the most advanced units in use today and are expected to find applications in portable electronic devices and electric vehicles. By incorporating highly conductive graphene structures into the composite materials, the project further aims to develop supercapacitors with high power and high energy storage capacities for the power utility grid storage. In addition, the project utilizes mixed metal precursors to create composites based on metal alloys and inter-metallic nanoparticles that facilitate independent control of the magnetic permeability and electrical conductivity.The broader impacts of this research ultimately will include acceleration of commercialization of several unique battery systems with potential market-changing impacts. The global market for secondary batteries alone was estimated to be $11-$13 billion in 2010 and is expected to quadruple by 2020. By bringing together researchers from Cornell University, known world-wide for their innovative contributions in the rechargeable batteries field, with two Up-State New York technology concerns possessing complementary expertise on materials synthesis, formulation, and manufacturing, the project creates a path toward commercial deployment of lithium battery systems that offer multiple unique features. These features include best-in-class energy storage capacity and best-in-class power density. The project will also develop materials and manufacturing processes for battery electrodes, supercapacitors, and magnetic materials that are familiar from other sectors of technology. By doing so, costs associated with deployment of battery manufacturing processes will be contained--a required first-step for improving competitiveness of the new lithium battery systems in the marketplace.Partners at the inception of the project are Cornell University as the lead academic institution andSmall Business partners Graphene Devices Ltd., Rochester, New York; and NOHMs Technologies, Ithaca New York.