Li-ion rechargeable battery dominated in powering a wide variety of commercial and military electronics and electrical devices and systems over the last few decades. However, it cannot meet the high-energy and high-performance (HE/HP) requirements of the present and future devices and systems, especially for military applications. Although countless R&D and commercialization attempts have been made for the next generation HE/HP battery, we have not yet broken through the limitation of the Li-ion battery while the demand for the next generation battery grows as each day goes by. Our objective is to develop and demonstrate a novel high-energy (> 600 Whr/kg at the 0.5C rate) rechargeable battery technology to provide high-performance and high-quality enduring power not only for Navy hand-held portable electronics and small unmanned aerial system (UAS) applications but also for other DoD/Services and commercial applications. We demonstrated the breakthroughs and the solutions for the well-known intrinsic issues of conventional Li-S batteries, such as Li-dendrite growth, polysulfides shuttling, electrolyte consumption caused by the reaction of electrolyte and materials. We also have made a steady Li-S technology advancement and already demonstrated the energy density of > 500 Whr/kg along with other key performance parameters. Therefore, we propose to continue advancing our novel Li-S battery technologies during the project period by (1) optimizing our current nanomaterial coated Li-metal anode, catalysts-deposited 3D carbon nanotube fiber Sulfur (CNF-S) cathode, and semi-solid electrolyte; (2) designing the optimized full cell including scalable electrodes design and fabrication processes; and (3) fabricating the full cell professionally to test, evaluate, analyze and characterize and also importantly demonstrating the prototype next generation Li-S battery. The results from Phase I effort will provide us with a significant insight toward the initial step toward productizing the next generation Li-S rechargeable battery as well as the confidence entering into Phase II, moving us toward its commercialization to benefit Navy, other DoD/Services and commercial applications.
Benefit: The successful delivery of our effort to commercialize the innovative, next generation Li-S rechargeable battery technologies will positively impact the commercial applications with numerous potential benefits, starting with the benefits to Navy and other DoD/Services applications. The benefits can be categorized into two areas: (1) the inherent benefits of the Li-S battery technology; and (2) the derived benefits of the Li-S battery technology. Both the inherent and derived benefits encompass all areas of Size/Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP-C) along with Safety and Environmentally Friendliness. The Li-S technology will provide high-energy, high-performance, and high-quality rechargeable batteries with the following
Benefits: (a) light-weight, about 2X to 3X lighter than Li-ion battery of the same size, and this is because of the high theoretical capacity of sulfur; (b) higher energy density, at least 2X higher than commercial Li-ion batteries; (c) lower cost because no high-cost cathode material is needed because Sulfur is abundant and low cost is needed; (d) safer because no flammable materials are used or chemical reaction takes place; and finally but also importantly, (e) environmentally friendlier than Li-ion because less harmful material is used. While these benefits of Li-S battery technology have great implications to and impact on military applications, they also fill the great gap in the power source requirements in commercial and industrial sectors. Successful military applications of our innovative Li-S battery technologies will result in a rapid technology transfer for dual-use applications to the commercial and industrial market places. The consumer electronics markets that will adopt it include, but are not limited to, all types of mobile/portable and wearable electronic devices, personal computing platforms, small consumer drones for leisure/hobby, electronic/electrical toys, and so on. For commercial/industrial electrical systems, it will include the applications in electric vehicles (EVs), urban air mobility (UAM)/advanced air mobility (AAM), home energy storage system (for solar panel or other green energy generators), batteries for commercial aircraft (as it is safe to fly by meeting the flight requirement for rechargeable batteries), batteries for down-well petroleum drilling, uninterrupted power supply (UPS) for home and manufacturing facilities, and so on. We confidently expect that the successes in our innovative Li-S battery technologies will be very competitive to or better choices than Li-ion technology for numerous military, commercial, and industrial applications. Furthermore, the success in the Li-S technology will aid in strategically placing the U.S. as a global industrial leader in advanced, next generation rechargeable battery technology.
Keywords: Li-S battery, Li-S battery, high-performance, capacity, energy density, Electrolyte, Cathode, rechargeable battery, Anode
