SBIR Phase I: Electrochemical Flow Reactor for Uniform Deposition of Li Metal Anodes

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力推动了电动汽车和相关应用的电池技术。 拟议的项目通过展示一种具有成本效益和可扩展的工艺来制造具有上级循环寿命的高纯度、无缺陷的锂（Li）金属电极，从而超越了当前的锂离子（Li）电池。锂金属电池比锂离子电池具有更高的能量密度，并且对于电动汽车和便携式电子应用具有令人信服的价值主张。这项技术解决了电动汽车中所谓的“里程焦虑”，使这些电池的使用范围超过300英里。该SBIR第一阶段项目提出通过克服电解液中的锂离子浓度梯度来研究具有高微观结构和成分均匀性的大面积锂金属薄膜沉积。该项目建议在电化学流动反应器的帮助下开发上级锂金属阳极，以克服电解质相传质的限制。尽管在小于3-cm 2的电极面积下薄膜阳极的再现性和均匀性不是问题，但是对于商业袋电池形式，按比例放大到超过25 cm 2的面积可导致不均匀和树枝状/苔藓状形态，从而导致容量损失和差的循环寿命。将组装大面积电化学流动反应器，并建立高性能锂薄膜阳极的工艺参数，生产具有高纯度（99.99%）和可控厚度（5-50微米）的薄膜，形状因子大于25 cm 2。主要创新是一种电化学流动反应器，可使用低成本的水基矿物原料以商业上可行的规模生产高性能锂金属电极。该奖项反映了NSF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) Phase I project advances battery technologies for electric vehicles and related applications. The proposed project advances beyond the current Lithium-ion (Li-ion batteries by demonstrating a cost-effective and scalable process to manufacture high-purity, defect-free Lithium (Li) metal electrodes with superior cycle life. Lithium metal batteries promise substantially higher energy density than Li-ion batteries, and have a compelling value proposition for electric vehicles and portable electronics applications. The proposed technology addresses so-called "range anxiety" in electric vehicles, enabling use of these batteries for ranges exceeding 300 miles. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to investigate large area Li-metal thin films deposition with high microstructural and compositional uniformity by overcoming Li-ion concentration gradients in the electrolyte. The project proposes to develop superior Li-metal anodes with the aid of an electrochemical flow reactor to overcome the electrolyte-phase mass transfer limitations. Though reproducibility and uniformity of the thin film anodes is not a concern at electrode areas less than 3-cm2, scaling up to areas exceeding 25 cm2 for commercial pouch cell format can lead to non-uniform and dendritic/mossy morphology, resulting in capacity loss and poor cycling life. A large-area electrochemical flow reactor will be assembled and the process parameters for high-performance Li thin film anodes will be established, producing films with high purity ( 99.99%) and controllable thickness (5-50 micron) with a form factor greater than 25 cm2. The key innovation is an electrochemical flow reactor to produce high-performance lithium metal electrodes using low-cost water-based mineral feedstocks at a commercially viable scale.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.