PFI:AIR - TT: Advancement of Dispersed Particle Electrochemical Device for Analytical and Energy Storage Applications

该PFI：AIR技术转换项目的重点是将电池材料的表征技术从概念验证阶段转换为可向潜在客户演示的功能原型。该技术旨在满足在电池制造的质量控制阶段对电池材料进行更快、更明确评估的需求。分散颗粒电化学装置是重要的，因为它提高了电池制造质量控制的速度和可靠性。质量控制过程速度的提高导致制造成本的降低，这意味着电池的价格更便宜。更可靠和更强大的质量控制降低了电池产品性能的不确定性和故障发生率。因此，该提案的更广泛影响包括降低电池成本和减少电池故障的发生率，在某些情况下，电池故障会导致重大安全隐患，包括火灾和伤害。该项目将产生一个原型，该原型使用相对于当前最先进技术的非常快速的方法提供电池材料之间比较的直接定量输出。这种分散颗粒电化学装置具有以下独特功能：电池电极材料的快速电化学评估进一步缩小了电池制造的公差，减少了电池性能扰动源的不确定性，加速候选新材料的筛选。这些功能提供了以下优点：节省质量控制分析的时间，提高电池产品的可靠性，以及在制造和研究环境中更快地评估电池材料。这些特征导致在消费者层面上成品电池单元的成本和安全性的改进。当与本申请中目前使用的领先竞争电池单元制造和评估实践相比时，分散颗粒电化学装置既快了几个数量级，又不会由于该市场空间中其他电池单元组件的贡献而被误解。 该项目解决了以下技术差距，作为其知识价值的一部分，因为该技术从研究发现转化为商业应用。该技术目前已经用单一电池材料进行了演示，制造商表示必须证明其他材料才能证实该技术的广泛适用性。该项目还将展示使用低成本和不易燃的分散溶剂，这将使该技术更适合于制造环境。同样，推进到原型阶段的一部分将包括适应流通装置，这将提高样品通量，并将更适合于制造应用。与商业化相关的知识差距，包括与电池制造商的额外访谈，以进一步了解质量控制流程和需求，对现有知识产权和必要的合作伙伴进行更详细的评估，以及生产旅行原型以在客户设施中进行演示，也将得到解决。此外，参与该项目的人员，包括教师，博士后，研究生和本科生，将通过努力将分散颗粒电化学设备推进到原型阶段，并进一步与电池制造商合作，以适应技术来满足他们的需求，从而获得创新，创业和技术翻译经验。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating a technique for characterizing battery materials from the proof-of-concept phase to a functional prototype that can be demonstrated to potential customers. This technology aims to fill the need for faster and less ambiguous evaluation of battery materials during the quality control stage of battery manufacturing. The dispersed particle electrochemical device is important because it improves the speed and reliability of battery manufacturing quality control. Improvements in speed of quality control processes results in lower manufacturing costs, which translates to less expensive batteries. More reliable and robust quality control reduces uncertainty in performance and incidence of failure in battery products. Thus broader impacts of this proposal include both reducing the cost of batteries and reducing the incidence of battery failures, which in some cases result in major safety hazards including fire and injury. This project will result in a prototype that provides straightforward quantitative outputs for comparison between battery materials using a very fast method relative to the current state-of-the-art. This dispersed particle electrochemical device has the following unique features: fast electrochemical evaluation of battery electrode materials, further narrows tolerances for battery manufacturing, reduces ambiguity on the source of battery performance perturbations, and accelerates screening of candidate new materials. These features provide the following advantages: time savings of quality control analysis, improved battery product reliability, and faster evaluation of battery materials both in manufacturing and research environments. These features result in cost and safety improvements for finished battery cells at the consumer level. The dispersed particle electrochemical device, when compared to the leading competing battery cell fabrication and evaluation practice currently used in this application, is both orders of magnitude faster and is not misinterpreted due to contributions from other battery cell components in this market space. This project addresses the following technology gaps as part of its intellectual merit as the technology translates from research discovery toward commercial application. The technology has currently been demonstrated with a single battery material, and manufacturers have indicated that additional materials must be demonstrated to confirm the broad applicability of the technique. This project will also demonstrate the use of lower cost and nonflammable dispersion solvents which will make the technology more adaptable to a manufacturing environment. Similarly, part of the advancement to the prototype stage will include adapting to a flow-through device which will improve sample throughput and will be more amenable to manufacturing applications. Knowledge gaps related to commercialization including additional interviews with battery manufacturers to further understand quality control processes and needs, more detailed evaluation of existing intellectual property and necessary partners, and production of a travel prototype to demonstrate at customer facilities will also be addressed. In addition, personnel involved in this project, including faculty, post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduate students, will receive innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology translation experiences through working towards advancing the dispersed particle electrochemical device to the prototype stage and further working with battery manufacturers to adapt the technology to address their needs.