STTR Phase I: Manufacturing nickel and cobalt-free cathodes for high-energy and low-cost lithium-ion batteries

该小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是通过确保供应链，降低电池阴极成本和加强美国创新电池制造来促进美国电动汽车的采用。该项目将解决美国电池行业面临的几个挑战。 首先，最先进的锂离子电池阴极材料使用稀缺且昂贵的元素，如钴和镍。 其次，美国电池制造能力有待提高，以满足快速增长的需求，正极材料生产尤为重要。 第三，目前的锂离子电池阴极制造涉及昂贵的液体和气体废物管理。这项技术将为美国电动汽车生产下一代阴极创造全新的方法。该项目可能会对电池领域产生重大影响，因为拟议的新阴极技术预计将大幅降低每个电动汽车电池组的成本。新型阴极化学和制造工艺的进步为美国在阴极创新和制造方面建立领导地位提供了新的机会。该项目开发了一种从根本上颠覆性的技术，能够在高能锂离子电池中使用低成本、无钴和无镍的氧化物阴极。干式制造技术将与新材料开发独特地结合起来，以实现稳定的电池循环，在阴极材料水平上具有700 Wh/kg的比能量。该技术与主流锂离子电解质和阳极兼容，这使得全电池集成在商业规模上可行且实用。研究和开发目标包括：（1）设计、制造和表征具有丰富和低成本元素的新型无钴和无镍氧化物阴极化学品，（2）基于全干电极制备工艺开发具有可控物理性质的阴极电极，以及（3）在各种实际测试条件下集成石墨阳极和电化学测量。该项目提出将联合收割机材料合成和电极粉末混合相结合，避免了阴极粉末生产和阴极电极制造之间昂贵的材料储存和处理。该技术的成功开发将使低成本、高能量、干法加工和美国制造的电池阴极成为更经济、更可靠的电动汽车电池。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/commercial impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to facilitate the adoption of battery electric vehicles in the US by securing the supply chain, reducing battery cathode cost, and enhancing US-innovated battery manufacturing. This project will address the several challenges facing the US battery industry. First, the state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery cathode materials use scarce and expensive elements, such as cobalt and nickel. Second, the US battery manufacturing capability needs to be improved in order to meet the rapidly growing demand, cathode materials production is especially important. Third, current lithium-ion battery cathode manufacturing involves costly liquid and gaseous waste management. The proposed technology will create fundamentally new ways to produce next-generation cathodes for American electric vehicles. This project can significantly impact the battery field since the proposed new cathode technology is expected to result in a major cost reduction per electric vehicle battery pack. Advances in novel cathode chemistries and manufacturing processes offer new opportunities for the US to establish the leadership in cathode innovation and manufacturing. This project develops a fundamentally disruptive technology to enable the use of low-cost, cobalt- and nickel-free oxide cathodes in high-energy lithium-ion batteries. The dry manufacturing technology will be uniquely combined with new materials development to enable stable battery cycling with a 700 Wh/kg specific energy at the cathode materials level. The technology is compatible with mainstream lithium-ion electrolytes and anodes, which makes full-cell integration feasible and practical at the commercial scale. The research and development objectives include: (1) design, manufacturing, and characterization of new cobalt- and nickel-free oxide cathode chemistries with abundant and low-cost elements, (2) develop cathode electrodes with controllable physical properties based on an all-dry electrode preparation process, and (3) integrate the graphite anode and electrochemical measurements under various practical testing conditions. This project proposes to combine materials synthesis and electrode powder mixing and to avoid the costly materials storage and handling between cathode powder production and cathode electrode manufacturing. The successful development of the technology will enable low-cost, high-energy, dry-processed, and US-manufactured battery cathodes for more affordable and reliable electric vehicle batteries.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.