SBIR Phase I: A New Class of High-conductivity Solid-state Composite Electrolytes for Next-generation Lithium Batteries

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是实现高性能、安全的锂电池；这是一个目前价值400亿美元的市场，在电动汽车和基于电网的存储需求的推动下迅速增长。该项目将开发一种安全的(不可燃)电解液，可以在高电压(增加电池容量)和高温(快速充电)下运行。拟议中的电解液是当今制造基础设施中的替代产品。关键实验将使该团队对材料属性有一个基本的了解，并使其能够绕过关键的性能限制因素。作为全固态电池的推动者，这项创新将以更低的成本提高电动汽车电池的性能，加快美国制造的电动汽车和动力总成在世界市场的渗透率。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将开发、测试、扩大并开始商业化用于本质安全的高性能锂离子电池的下一代固态复合电解液。电解液应具有高的电化学稳定性、高的离子导电性、高的热稳定性、高的锂迁移数、低的界面电阻，并且本质上是不可燃的。将建造200毫安时的全电池并进行性能测试。在第一阶段的工作中，NextGen将展示其新的电解液将满足早期市场采用者所要求的先进电解液的导电性、温度、安全性等目标。该项目有四个关键任务：(1)陶瓷材料的合成和表征，(2)与聚合物混合形成薄的、无针孔的复合固态电解质体系，以同时实现高离子导电性和与阴极/阳极材料的低电阻界面，(3)复合电解质体系的电化学和热表征，以及(4)组装和测试电池，以证明电解液满足系统性能要求。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to enable high-performance, safe, lithium-based batteries; a $40B market today and growing rapidly driven by the needs of electric vehicles and grid-based storage. This project will develop a safe (non-flammable) electrolyte that can operate at both high voltages (for increased battery capacity) and high temperature (for rapid charging). The proposed electrolyte is a drop-in replacement in today’s manufacturing infrastructure. Key experiments will allow the team to develop a fundamental understanding of the materials properties and allow it to circumvent crucial performance limiters. As an enabler for an all solid-state battery, the innovation will improve performance of electric vehicle batteries at reduced costs, accelerating the rate of penetration of US-made electric vehicles and power trains in world markets. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop, test, scale-up, and begin commercialization of a next-generation solid-state composite electrolyte for inherently safe, high-performance lithium-/lithium-ion batteries. The electrolyte should have high electrochemical stability, high ionic conductivity, high thermal stability, a high lithium transference number, low interfacial resistance, and will be inherently non-flammable. Full cells 200 mAh will be constructed and performance tested. During the Phase I effort, NextGen will demonstrate that its new electrolyte will meet the conductivity, temperature, safety, etc. goals for advanced electrolytes required by early market adopters. The project has four key tasks: (1) ceramic materials synthesis and characterization, (2) blending with a polymer to form a thin, pinhole-free composite solid-state electrolyte system to achieve simultaneously a high ionic conductivity and a low resistance interface with the cathode/anode materials, (3) electrochemical and thermal characterization of the composite electrolyte system, and (4) assembly and test of full cells to demonstrate that the electrolyte meets the system performance requirements.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.