LITHIUM-ION POLYMER BATTERIES FOR IMPLANTABLE DEVICES

诸如左心室辅助装置、全人工心脏、某些听力辅助装置和神经刺激器的可植入医疗装置由于其高水平的功率消耗而需要可充电电池。传统的镍/镉和铅酸电池不具备为这些设备提供足够工作容量的能量密度。利用聚合物电解质的可再充电锂离子电池可能具有非常高的比能量（>200 Wh/kg）、长循环寿命、由于不存在挥发性液体而具有的特殊安全性以及可植入应用的设计灵活性。我们建议开发这样一种电池的基础上，一种新的无溶剂聚合物电解质的电导率类似于液体电解质在室温下。在第一阶段，我们将制备和表征由Li+导电无机材料和新型高离子导电有机聚合物电解质的混合物组成的新型聚合物电解质。新的固体聚合物电解质的适用性将在锂离子电池中进行评估。拟议的商业应用：该计划中开发的聚合物电解质可成为心脏起搏器用一次锂电池、心室辅助装置用可充电锂离子电池、全人工心脏和植入式耳蜗和神经刺激器的基础。聚合物电池的其他非医疗应用包括手机、笔记本电脑、寻呼机和手持工具。

Implantable medical devices such as the left ventricular assist device, the totally artificial heart, certain hearing assist devices and neurostimulators, because of their high level of power consumption, require rechargeable batteries. Conventional Ni/Cd and Pb-acid batteries do not possess the energy density to provide adequate operating capacity for these devices. A rechargeable Li-ion battery utilizing a polymer electrolyte is potentially capable of very high specific energy (>200 Wh/kg), long cycle life, exceptional safety due to the absence of volatile liquids, and design flexibility for implantable applications. We propose to develop such a battery based on a novel solvent-free polymer electrolyte with conductivity similar to liquid electrolytes at room temperature. In Phase I, we will prepare and characterize the new polymer electrolytes, composed of hybrids of Li+-conductive inorganic materials and new highly ion- conductive organic polymer electrolytes. The suitability of the new solid polymer electrolytes will be assessed in Li-ion batteries. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The polymer electrolyte to be developed in this program can become the basis for primary Li batteries for heart pacemakers, and rechargeable Li- ion batteries for ventricular assist devices, totally artificial heart and implantable cochlear and neuro-stimulators. Other non-medical applications for polymer batteries are in cellular phones, lap-top computers, pagers and hand-held tools.