NSF/FDA SIR: Safer (polymeric) batteries in medical devices and evolving regulatory framework

电池在许多医疗设备的整体功能、可靠性和安全性方面发挥着重要作用，例如起搏器、植入式心律转复除颤器、血糖监测设备和轮椅。在这个为期一年的NSF/FDA驻校学者基础研究项目中获得的见解将有助于并为证明锂电池聚合物电解质安全性和可行性的方案的开发提供信息。 该项目的成功将有助于简化医疗器械中固体聚合物电解质作为更安全替代品的监管。 除了对科学的影响外，该项目还将广泛影响工程教育，培训不同教育水平和不同背景的学生。计划采取几项举措，包括协助本科和研究生教育、研究生指导和高中生培训的具体方案。该项目的目标是更好地了解含水固体聚合物电解质的电化学，传输和安全性能。少量的水充当聚合物基质的超增塑剂，并提供显著改善阳离子传输的替代传导途径。此外，预期包含水对所得电池装置的安全性具有显著影响。具体而言，研究者建议研究由不同量的聚丙烯腈（PAN）、水和锂盐组成的水性固体聚合物电解质（ASPE）作为模型系统来探索这些问题。对这些ASPE的研究将集中在确定盐浓度、水浓度和聚合物分子量如何影响离子电导率、阳离子传输、电化学稳定性、电池安全性和电池性能。深入了解导致所提出的ASPE系统的电化学性能增强的水主导传输机制将极大地有利于医疗设备的下一代电池的设计。全电池设备将接受安全测试，这将有助于为评估用于医疗设备的聚合物电解质安全性的新兴监管框架提供信息。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。

Batteries play an important role in the overall function, reliability, and safety of many medical devices such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, glucose monitoring devices, and wheelchairs. The insights gained in this one-year NSF/FDA Scholar-In-Residence fundamental research project will aid and inform the development of protocols that demonstrate safety and feasibility of polymer electrolytes for lithium batteries. Success of this project will help streamline the regulation of solid polymer electrolytes in medical devices as a safer alternative. In addition to the impacts on science, the project will also broadly impact engineering education, training students of different educational levels and from diverse backgrounds. Several initiatives are planned, including specific programs that assist in undergraduate and graduate education, graduate student mentoring, and training of high school students. The goal of this project is to better understand the electrochemical, transport, and safety properties of water-containing solid polymer electrolytes. A small amount of water acts as a super plasticizer of the polymer matrix and provides an alternative conduction pathway that significantly improves cation transport. Additionally, the inclusion of water is expected to have a significant impact on the safety of the resulting battery device. Specifically, the Investigator’s propose to study an aqueous solid polymer electrolyte (ASPE) consisting of varying amounts of polyacrylonitrile (PAN), water, and lithium salt as a model system to probe these questions. An investigation of these ASPEs will focus on determining how salt concentration, water concentration, and polymer molecular weight can affect ionic conductivity, cation transport, electrochemical stability, cell safety, and cell performance. Gaining insight into the water-dominant transport mechanism causing the enhanced electrochemical performance of the proposed ASPE systems will greatly benefit the design of the next generation of batteries for medical devices. Full cell devices will undergo safety testing that will help inform an emerging regulatory framework for assessing the safety of polymer electrolytes for use in medical devices.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.