SBIR Phase I: Development of Safe, Energy Dense, High Performance Lithium Ion Batteries

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是检测和预防锂离子电池起火的能力。锂离子电池已经成为从手机到飞机等众多应用中能量存储和重复利用的首选模式。目前锂离子电池的低安全性导致了从计算机到电动汽车和飞机的各种应用中的许多事故。一个电池过多的散热会危及整个电池组和主机系统的安全。通过消除每个单元格起火的可能性，拟议的技术将能够建造更大格式的单元格，以降低电池集成成本。安全性的提高还将带来向更高能量密度电池的转变，并开启可受益于锂离子电池的新应用。这些项目的潜在社会影响包括：如果成功，将产生巨大的收入，增加安全性，甚至挽救生命，增加储能的渗透率，以及相关的环境影响。这项SBIR第一阶段项目建议开发一种创新技术，以提高锂离子电池的安全性，防止因制造缺陷、滥用和非正常使用而引发的火灾。在今天的电池中，这些故障会引发放热反应，从而转变为不受控制的热失控。由此产生的火灾影响了从小型(移动电话和计算机)到超大型(飞机)的各种系统的安全。这项工作的目标是开发一种嵌入在紧凑型套筒中的技术，这种技术可以在电池组中的电池上滑动，以被动地检测条件并隔离故障电池，以防止它们的热失控。第一阶段的研究包括为选定的锂离子电池化学成分和几何形状设计安全套，然后证明它们在检测和防止单个电池和电池组中的热失控方面的有效性。第一阶段的研究结果将用于为其他电池尺寸、形状和化学成分设计原型套筒，将在第二阶段进一步测试。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 the ability to detect and prevent fires in lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries have become the preferred mode of energy storage and reuse in numerous applications ranging from mobile phones to aircraft. The low safety of current Li-ion batteries has led to a number of accidents in various applications ranging from computers to electric vehicles and aircraft. Excessive heat release from one cell can compromise the safety of the entire battery pack and the host system. By eliminating the potential for fires in each cell, the proposed technology will enable the construction of larger format cells to reduce the battery integration costs. Improved safety also will usher in the move towards higher energy density cells and open new applications that can benefit from Li-ion batteries. The projects potential societal impacts include significant revenues if successful, increased safety and even lives saved, increased penetration of energy storage and associated environmental impacts.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop an innovative technology to improve the safety of Li-ion batteries and prevent fire due to manufacturing defects, abuse and abnormal use. In today's batteries, these failures trigger exothermic reactions that can transition into uncontrolled thermal runaway. The resulting fires have impacted the safety of various systems ranging in scale from small (mobile phones and computers) to very large (aircraft). The objective of this effort is to develop a technology embedded in a compact sleeve that slides over the cells in a battery pack to passively detect the conditions and isolate the failing cells to prevent their thermal runaway. The Phase I research consists of designing the safety sleeves for select Li-ion battery chemistries and geometries, then demonstrating their effectiveness in detecting and preventing thermal runaway in both individual cells and in battery packs. The results from Phase I research will be used to design prototype sleeves for additional battery sizes, shapes and chemistries that will be tested further in Phase II.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.