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

该PFI：空气技术转换项目专注于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。这项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、更明确的评估的需求。分散颗粒电化学装置对提高电池制造质量控制的速度和可靠性具有重要意义。质量控制过程速度的提高导致了更低的制造成本，这转化为更便宜的电池。更可靠和可靠的质量控制减少了性能的不确定性和电池产品的故障发生率。因此，这一提议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危险，包括火灾和伤害。这个项目将产生一个原型，提供直接的定量输出，用于电池材料之间的比较，使用一种相对于当前最先进的非常快速的方法。这种分散的颗粒电化学装置具有以下独特的特点：快速对电池电极材料进行电化学评估，进一步缩小电池制造的公差，减少对电池性能扰动来源的模糊性，并加速筛选候选新材料。这些功能提供了以下优势：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。这些功能在消费者层面上改善了成品电池的成本和安全性。与本应用中目前使用的领先竞争电池单元制造和评估实践相比，分散颗粒电化学设备的速度都快了几个数量级，并且不会因为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，作为其智力价值的一部分，因为该技术从研究发现转化为商业应用。这项技术目前已经在一种单一的电池材料上进行了演示，制造商已经表示，必须证明更多的材料才能证实该技术的广泛适用性。该项目还将展示使用成本较低的不可燃分散溶剂，这将使该技术更适合制造环境。同样，进入原型阶段的部分进展将包括改装流动设备，该设备将提高样品吞吐量，并更适合制造应用。还将解决与商业化有关的知识差距，包括与电池制造商进行更多面谈，以进一步了解质量控制流程和需求，更详细地评估现有知识产权和必要的合作伙伴，以及制作旅行原型，以便在客户设施中进行演示。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，调整技术以满足他们的需求，从而获得创新、创业和技术转化经验。

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.