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

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是能够检测和防止锂离子电池起火。锂离子电池已成为从手机到飞机等众多应用中能量存储和再利用的首选模式。当前锂离子电池的安全性较低，导致从计算机到电动汽车和飞机等各种应用中发生了多起事故。 一颗电池释放过多的热量可能会危及整个电池组和主机系统的安全。通过消除每个电池发生火灾的可能性，所提出的技术将能够构建更大规格的电池，从而降低电池集成成本。安全性的提高也将推动更高能量密度的电池的发展，并开辟可受益于锂离子电池的新应用。 该项目的潜在社会影响包括如果成功的话可带来可观的收入、提高安全性甚至挽救生命、提高储能的渗透率以及相关的环境影响。该SBIR第一阶段项目建议开发一种创新技术来提高锂离子电池的安全性并防止因制造缺陷、滥用和异常使用而引起的火灾。在当今的电池中，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各种系统的安全，这些系统的规模从小（手机和计算机）到非常大（飞机）。这项工作的目标是开发一种嵌入紧凑套筒中的技术，该套筒可在电池组中的电池上滑动，以被动检测状况并隔离故障电池以防止其热失控。第一阶段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，然后展示其在检测和防止单个电池和电池组热失控方面的有效性。第一阶段的研究结果将用于设计用于其他电池尺寸、形状和化学成分的原型套筒，这些电池尺寸、形状和化学成分将在第二阶段进行进一步测试。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点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.