SBIR Phase I: Electrochemical Acoustic Tools for the Analysis of Batteries

该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，这项技术能够在不久的将来影响每个电池的制造、测试、管理和再利用方式。电池无处不在，它们的使用在未来很可能会增加。因此，人们越来越需要低成本、准确的方法来实时监测充电状态（SOC）和健康状态（SOH），以优化性能并最大化使用寿命。该项目将开发的技术将使用超声波对电池进行无创探测，并提供SOC和SOH的物理洞察，该技术将适用于任何封闭电池，无论其化学成分和形状因素如何。这一假设的初步发现已经得到证实和发表。这是一个尚未开发的领域，在电池行业的每个领域都有巨大的商业机会，包括诊断、质量保证、主动循环控制和新兴的二次使用市场。其优点包括对细胞内细微物理变化的敏感性，探测实验室和商业规模细胞的能力，以及亚毫秒读数。从电池研发，到制造，再到管理系统，电池超声波将有助于实现全球能源的高效生产，储存和使用。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将支持这项技术的发展，从而导致第一个商用超声波电池分析装置。1)脉冲和开关速度比商业单位快几个数量级的小型化脉冲接收器的可行性，以及2)可以传输和接收高质量信号的小型化换能器的可行性将被证明。这将使侦测高速率现象和使用多路复用系统成为可能。3)使用快速数据分析算法进行实时SOC预测，并将声学作为主要输入。这些目标对于证明超声波分析在电池研发、制造和二次使用市场中的适用性是必要的。该项目的第一阶段的成功将导致微米级传感器并入电池管理系统的发展。在第二阶段，将开发基于声学数据的SOH预测和循环控制算法，并进行微电子换能器的设计和制造研究。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project lies in the ability of this technology to impact how every battery is made, tested, managed, and re-used in the near future. Batteries are ubiquitous, and their use is likely to increase in the future. As such, there is a growing need for low-cost, accurate methods for monitoring the state of charge (SOC) and the state of health (SOH) in real time to optimize performance and maximize lifetime. The technology that will be developed in this project will use ultrasound to noninvasively probe batteries and provide physical insights into SOC and SOH, and will work on any closed battery regardless of chemistry and form factor. Initial finding of this hypothesis have already been demonstrated and published. This is an unexplored area and presents a large commercial opportunity in each sector of the battery industry, including diagnostics, quality assurance, active cycling control, and the emerging second-life markets. Several advantages include sensitivity to subtle physical changes within cells, the ability to probe lab and commercial scale cells, and sub-millisecond readings. From battery R&D, to manufacturing, to management systems, ultrasound for batteries will help enable the efficient generation, storage, and use of energy worldwide.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will support the development of this technology leading to the first commercial ultrasonic battery analysis unit. The feasibility of 1) miniaturized pulser-receivers with pulsing and switching speeds that are orders of magnitude faster than commercial units, and 2) miniaturized transducers that can transmit and receive high quality signals will be demonstrated. This would enable the detection of high-rate phenomena and the use of multiplexed systems. 3) The use of fast data analysis algorithms for real-time SOC prediction using acoustics as the main input will also be addressed. These objectives are necessary for demonstrating the applicability of ultrasonic analysis to the battery R&D, manufacturing, and second life markets. The success of Phase I of this project will lead to the development of micron-scale sensors for incorporation in battery management systems. In Phase II, algorithms for SOH prediction and cycling control based on acoustic data will be developed, as well as investigation of the design and fabrication of microelectronic transducers will be performed.