I-Corps: Hybrid solid-liquid cathode to boost lithium primary battery energy

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发高能量密度初级（不可充电）电池，以延长电池寿命，减少电池尺寸/重量，用于独立的长效电子产品。初级电池的能量密度比锂离子电池高3倍，对于高能量、可靠性和便携性至关重要的应用至关重要，例如植入式/便携式医疗设备（例如起搏器）、无人驾驶车辆、军事和空间设备以及远程监控传感器。这些行业对高能原电池的需求很大，因为它们允许更长的工作时间，并且比可充电锂离子电池更小。尽管需求不断增加，但在过去的40年里，当所有目前已知的一次阴极被广泛研究时，电池化学几乎没有根本性的创新。该技术采用了最新开发的高能阴极化学技术，可将目前市场领先的Li-CFx系统的能量密度提高50%，具有良好的安全特性，且成本几乎没有增加。所提出的电池系统的高能量密度可能导致总体上需要更少的电池（由于电池寿命延长），减轻原电池对环境的影响，因为它们在许多应用中是不可避免的。这个I-Corps项目的基础是利用液态氟化反应物（LFRs）开发一种新型高能量阴极（阴极+电解质）。所提出的LFR细胞具有高能量密度，坚固耐用和高可重复性。此外，LFR和固态CFx之间的兼容性使电池设计发生了重大变化，其中LFR阴极与固态阴极杂交，以最大限度地减少非活性电池成分（例如电解质溶剂）的重量，并且电池材料更有效地用于存储能量。结果表明，与目前市场领先的电池相比，能量密度提高了20%，通过优化电池结构，能量密度可能进一步提高50%。关键的是，阴极电解质是使用当前的生产方法注入到电池中，这与现有的电池形状因素一致，并且几乎不需要对电池组装进行修改，从而最大限度地降低了电池制造商的转换成本。此外，LFR电池的价格与商用固体阴极相似，这使得LFR电池在放大后的预计成本与最先进的电池相当。考虑到LFR的高热稳定性和化学稳定性、低挥发性和低腐蚀性，所提出的LFR电池也有望具有良好的安全特性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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 I-Corps project is the development of a high energy density primary (non-rechargeable) battery to extend battery life and decrease battery size/weight for stand-alone long-lasting electronics. Primary batteries, with energy density 3x higher than lithium (Li)-ion, are critical for applications where high energy, reliability, and portability are essential, such as implantable/portable medical devices (e.g., pacemakers), unmanned vehicles, military and space devices, and remote monitoring sensors. These industries have strong unmet needs for high-energy primaries because they allow longer-duration operating time and can fit into smaller devices than rechargeable Li-ion. Despite the increasing demand, there have been few fundamental innovations in cell chemistries in the past 40 years, when all currently-known primary cathodes were extensively investigated. The proposed technology utilizes a recently developed high-energy cathode chemistry that may boost the energy density of the current market-leading system (Li-CFx) by a projected 50%, with good safety characteristics and little/no increase in cost. The high energy density of the proposed battery system may result in fewer batteries being needed overall (owing to increased battery life), mitigating environmental impacts of primary batteries given that their use is unavoidable in many applications.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a new class of energy-dense catholyte (cathode + electrolyte) utilizing liquid fluorinated reactants (LFRs). The proposed LFR cells exhibit intrinsically high energy densities and are robust and highly reproducible. Moreover, the compatibility between LFR and solid CFx enabled a significant evolution in cell design, where LFR catholytes are hybridized with solid-state cathodes to minimize the weight of inactive cell components (e.g., electrolyte solvents), and the battery materials are more efficiently used for storing energy. Results have shown a 20% boost in energy density over the current market-leading battery, and further improvement by 50% may be possible with cell structure optimization. Critically, the catholyte is injected into the cell using current production methodologies, which is consistent with established cell form factors and requires little modification to cell assembly, minimizing switching costs to battery manufacturers. Additionally, the price of the LFR is similar to that of the commercial solid cathodes, making the projected cost of the LFR cell after scaling up comparable to the state-of-the-art batteries. The proposed LFR cells also are expected to have good safety characteristics given the high thermal and chemical stability, low volatility, and low corrosivity of LFRs.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.