SBIR Phase II: Scalable Photonic Crystal Fabrication for Mesoscale Fuel-to-Electricity Conversion

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是将一种新型技术商业化，这种技术能够实现紧凑，高效，静音，可靠和燃料灵活的发电。现有的电力解决方案可能缺乏耐用性，可靠性和便携性，并且经常产生有害排放;或者它们过于昂贵或与现有的燃料和配电基础设施不兼容。 该项目开发的发电平台有可能成为未来商用无人机应用快速增长的关键技术，目前商用无人机应用往往受到锂离子电池性能的限制。无人机预计将对众多行业产生影响，包括运输和交付、电力和公用事业、电信和遥感。此外，该发电技术还可以为工业物联网应用带来益处。该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在开发一种易于携带并与现有燃料基础设施兼容的新型电源。该项目开发了一个系统，通过光将大多数燃料转化为电能;燃烧将纳米光子材料加热到白炽，产生的光驱动光伏电池。纳米光子材料被设计成与光伏电池光谱匹配，从而实现高效转换。这项技术可以将无人机或其他系统的续航能力提高到电池的10倍。这项工作的重点是通过开发新材料降低成本。具体的研究目标是在保持高性能的同时，为纳米光子材料和光伏电池展示一种低成本和可扩展的工艺，然后集成和试点低成本系统。成功完成这些目标将使这项技术能够转化为无人机应用，并迫切需要持久的便携式电源。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 II project is to commercialize a novel technology that enables compact, efficient, silent, reliable, and fuel-flexible power generation. Existing power solutions can lack endurance, reliability, and portability and often generate harmful emissions; or they are prohibitively expensive or incompatible with existing fuels and distribution infrastructure. The power generation platform developed in this project has the potential to be a key enabling technology for the future rapid growth of commercial drone applications, which currently are often limited by the performance of lithium ion batteries. Drones are expected to make an impact across numerous industries including transport and delivery, power and utilities, telecommunications, and remote sensing. Additionally, this power generation technology can benefit industrial internet of things applications.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to develop a novel power source that is easily portable and is compatible with existing fuel infrastructure. This project develops a system that converts most fuels to electricity via light; combustion heats a nanophotonic material to incandescence and the resulting light drives photovoltaic cells. The nanophotonic material is engineered to be spectrally matched to the photovoltaic cells, enabling efficient conversion. This technology can increase the endurance of drones or other systems up to ten times over batteries alone. This work is focused on cost reduction through new material development. The specific research objectives are to demonstrate a low-cost and scalable process for the nanophotonic material and photovoltaic cell while maintaining high performance, and then integrate and pilot the low cost system. Successful completion of these objectives will enable this technology to translate to drone applications with a compelling need for long-lasting portable power.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.