SBIR Phase I: Rechargeable Carbon-Oxygen Battery for Ultra-Low-Cost Renewable Energy Storage

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是可再生能源长期储能的突破。该项目将实现一种新型可充电碳氧电池，利用超低成本的存储介质将间歇性的太阳能/风能转化为按需发电，以低于传统化石燃料发电的成本实现100%无碳电力。它的高能量密度，在系统级是锂离子电池的3倍，将实现更长距离的电力运输。该技术的成功开发，通过在该项目中进行的关键原型步骤，将对一系列存储应用产生商业影响。固定储能终端用户包括：离网（岛屿、商业、军事）太阳能+储能；电力公司和房主；太阳能/风力发电厂业主和农民；数据中心需要低成本、绿色和更可靠的存储。运输终端用户包括：电动汽车、卡车、船舶和飞机制造商，他们需要更低的成本和更高的安全性。该项目还将推动碳化学材料科学的发展，并为这种新型电池提供一种新的系统设计框架。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将通过开发一种新颖的简单系统设计和对材料和组件的关键改进来推进这种新的碳氧电池技术，展示锂离子电池的高效率、碳和氧的超低成本存储介质和高能量密度。数百次充放电循环已在实验室概念验证实验中得到验证，降低了科学风险，并为该技术在初始原型阶段的发展提供了机会。主要研究目标是建立和测试第一个原型，以验证新系统设计，成熟组件材料集，并设计全尺寸系统。预期的结果是，第一个原型进行了数百次循环，在连续循环速率下大幅提高了材料性能，并建立了包括流体流动、热管理和高压气体储存在内的多物理场系统模型，验证了成本和能量密度目标的可行性。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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is a breakthrough in long-duration energy storage for renewable electricity sources. This project will enable a new rechargeable carbon-oxygen battery utilizing ultra-low-cost storage media converting intermittent solar/wind power into on-demand power, achieving 100% carbon-free electricity at a cost that undercuts conventional fossil fuel generation. Its high energy density, ~3x that of lithium ion batteries at the system level, will enable longer range electric transportation. Successful development of this technology, enabled by the key prototyping steps carried out in this project, will have commercial impact on a range of storage applications. Stationary storage end-users include: Off-grid (islands, commercial, military) solar-plus-storage; electric utilities and homeowners; solar/wind power plant owners and farmers; and data centers requiring low-cost, green and more reliable storage. Transportation end-users include: manufacturers of electric vehicles, trucks, ships, and aircraft requiring longer range at lower cost and improved safety. This project will also advance the materials science of carbon chemistry and provide a novel system design framework for this new class of battery. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance this new carbon-oxygen battery technology by developing a novel simple system design and key improvements in materials and components, demonstrating the high efficiency of Li-ion batteries, the ultra-low-cost storage media of carbon and oxygen, and high energy density. Hundreds of charge-discharge cycles have been demonstrated in laboratory proof-of-concept experiments, reducing scientific risk and presenting the opportunity to progress the technology through initial prototype stages. The key research objectives are to build and test the first prototype to demonstrate the novel system design, mature the component material set, and design the full-scale system. Expected results are the demonstration of hundreds of cycles with this first prototype, substantially improved materials performance at continuous cycling rates, and a multi-physics system model including fluid flow, thermal management and high-pressure gas storage, validating the feasibility of the cost and energy density targets.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.