I-Corps: Dendrite-Suppressing Separator for Next Generation Lithium-ion Batteries

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种分离技术，该技术将导致电动汽车以及电网储能和消费电子等行业中的其他应用所需的更高能量密度和更安全的电池。一旦在商业世界中实现，所提出的方法可能会极大地促进目前生产具有高度倍率能力、能量密度和安全性的电池的技术。其社会效益在于，它能够通过应对全球能源和环境挑战，加快电动汽车和其他清洁能源解决方案的采用。将这项技术转化为商业应用可能会创造新的就业机会，并为改善经济做出贡献。这个i-Corps项目是基于一种新型电池隔板的开发，该隔板利用一种材料技术来抑制快速充电电池或带有锂金属阳极的电池中的树枝晶形成。这项技术可能会解决长期存在的枝晶形成问题，这会导致电池短路，并成为更高能量的下一代电池商业化的障碍。该项目将有助于将这项技术开发成商业化的技术，可能会加速采用高能量密度的金属锂电池作为行业标准。该项目将提高对金属锂电池和枝晶形成的了解，以便新的研究可以集中在进一步提高金属锂电池的性能上。该项目可能会对隔膜材料技术和电化学基础向电池制造的转化产生革命性影响，弥合先进锂离子电池基础研究和商业化生产之间的技术差距。与枝晶抑制相关的基础科学和技术将得到进一步的探索，以优化制造技术和产品，并以不同的格式、尺寸和材料向不同的客户展示。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 separator technology that will lead to higher energy density and safer batteries necessary for electric vehicles as well as other applications in industries such as grid energy storage and consumer electronics. Once realized in the commercial world, the proposed approach may significantly advance the current technologies for producing battery cells with a high degree of rate capability, energy density, and safety. The societal benefit is in its ability to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and other clean energy solutions by addressing global energy and environmental challenges. Translating the technique to commercial applications may create new jobs and contribute to the improvement of the economy. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a novel battery separator that utilizes a material technique to suppress dendrite formation in fast charging batteries or batteries with lithium metal anodes. The technology may solve the long existing problem of dendrite formation, which causes battery shorting and is a barrier to the commercialization of higher energy, next-generation batteries. This project will help to develop the technique into a commercially ready technology that may accelerate the adoption of high energy density lithium metal batteries as the industry standard. This project will improve understanding of lithium metal batteries and dendrite formation so that new research may focus on further enhancing the performance of lithium metal batteries. This project may have a transformative impact on the translation of separator materials techniques and fundamentals of electrochemistry to battery manufacturing, bridging the technical gap between the fundamental research and commercial production of advanced lithium-ion batteries. The fundamental science and technology associated with dendrite suppression will be further explored to optimize and demonstrate the fabrication technique and products to diverse customers in different formats, sizes and materials.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.