SBIR Phase II: Integration of Custom, Printable Batteries in Robotic Technologies

这个小型企业创新研究计划（SBIR）二期项目将扩大一种新型锌电池化学的性能，该化学利用高导电性聚合物电解质，并进一步表征电池系统，以增加其对感兴趣的客户和合作伙伴的商业吸引力，特别是对于小型便携式和柔性电子应用。新型锌电池化学是一种超薄、灵活、可充电的电池技术。这种电池化学利用了一种空气稳定、地球资源丰富、坚固耐用的非锂材料，可通过印刷加工制造，并可通过片状或卷材制造扩展到大尺寸。该项目的目标是增加对这种新型电池化学的理解，展示和表征其独特的灵活性，将技术扩展到试点生产，并提高其商业相关性能。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是多方面的。它们包括建立新的电池化学和制造范式，这可能会破坏需要新颖设备功能和外形因素的市场。这项技术还可以显著降低电池的成本和对环境的影响，从而实现越来越广泛的应用。最后，这种电池制造的新方法提供了重新调整印刷工业以生产下一代电池的机会。尽管之前在电池领域做了大量的工作，但现有的电池技术与作为平台电池系统为柔性和可穿戴电子设备、机器人、传感器、能量采集器、显示器和无线电子设备供电所需的性能、外形、成本和制造要求之间存在很大的不匹配。在这个项目中开发的新型电池技术可以缓解这些限制，并有可能彻底改变便携式电子市场，实现新的形状因素，功能，并推动采用新的应用领域。

This Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase II project will expand the performance of a novel zinc battery chemistry which leverages a high conductivity polymer electrolyte, and further characterize the battery system to increase its commercial attractiveness to interested customers and partners, particularly for small portable and flexible electronics applications. The novel zinc battery chemistry is an ultrathin, flexible and rechargeable battery technology. This battery chemistry utilizes an air-stable, earth-abundant, robust, and non-lithium materials set that is manufacturable by print-based processing and is scalable to large dimensions with sheet or web manufacturing. The goals of this project are to increase understanding of this new battery chemistry, demonstrate and characterize its unique flexibility, scale the technology to pilot-level manufacturing, and improve its commercially relevant performance properties. The broader impacts/commercial potential of this project are diverse. They include the establishment of new battery chemistry and manufacturing paradigm which can be disruptive to markets requiring novel device functionality and form factors. This technology also allows for significant reduction of the cost and environmental impact of batteries for growing and potentially ubiquitous application. Lastly, this new approach to battery manufacturing presents the opportunity to repurpose the printing industry to produce next generation batteries. Despite considerable prior work in the field of batteries, there is a large mismatch between available battery technologies and the performance, form factor, cost, and manufacturing requirements needed to serve as a platform battery system to power flexible and wearable electronics, robotics, sensors, energy harvesters, displays, and wireless electronics. The novel battery technology being developed in this project can alleviate these constraints and potentially revolutionize the portable electronic market to achieve new form factors, capabilities, and spur adoption into new application areas.