PFI-TT: Next Generation Lithium-Metal Batteries for High Performance, Low Cost and Safe Energy Storage

PFI-TT：用于高性能、低成本和安全储能的下一代锂金属电池

• 批准号: 1922633
• 负责人: Nikhil Koratkar
• 金额: $ 24.55万
• 依托单位: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-07-01 至 2021-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1922633&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; TT; Next; Generation; Lithium

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation (PFI-TT) project is to enable the development of high performance, low cost and safe Lithium-metal batteries. This is expected to translate into breakthrough improvements in energy density for next generation energy storage and could deliver ~2X higher performance and ~3X lower cost than the current best Lithium-ion batteries. This would enable significant reduction in battery weight, size and cost for laptops, cell phones, wearable devices, all-electric vehicles, as well as grid storage. Beyond performance and cost, a major focus of this project is on battery safety. In particular, we will explore novel methods to prevent short circuiting and heating problems in lithium-metal batteries, thereby rendering them safe. The deliverable for this project will be a minimum viable product that can be subjected to third-party validation and also field-tested by potential customers. Such testing will provide a detailed understanding of device level performance, cost and safety metrics and will be instrumental in advancing this technology towards commercial viability. Our traineeship model aims to develop a robust entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. For this, a broad range of activities (such as entrepreneurship training, communication skills development, venture support, internships etc.), will be offered to help students develop a holistic view of their research. The proposed project aims to replace graphitic anodes with a vastly superior alternative in Lithium-ion batteries. Instead of storing lithium atoms within a graphite host, we propose to store Lithium in its metallic form, which leads to much higher energy density. However, the Achilles heel for any Lithium-metal battery is the uncontrolled growth of dendrites which can electrically short the battery. We propose to overcome this challenge by utilizing a novel approach that involves applying high current densities of optimized magnitude (for healing purposes) to generate internal self-heat in the battery. This controlled heating triggers massive surface diffusion of Lithium on the dendritic surface, which blunts the dendrite tips and smoothens the Lithium metal surface. Our main objective is to demonstrate safe (i.e., dendrite-free) operation of high energy density and low cost Lithium-metal batteries in larger format pouch and cylindrical cells and perform detailed device level characterization.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.

这种创新合作伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使高性能，低成本和安全锂金属电池的发展。预计这将转化为下一代能量存储的能量密度的突破性改善，并且比当前最佳锂离子电池的性能高约2倍，成本高约3倍。这将使笔记本电脑，手机，可穿戴设备，全电动车辆以及网格存储空间的电池重量，尺寸和成本大大降低。除了性能和成本之外，该项目的主要重点是电池安全性。 特别是，我们将探索新的方法，以防止锂金属电池中短路和加热问题，从而使其安全。 该项目的可交付方式将是一种最低可行的产品，可以接受第三方验证，并受到潜在客户的现场测试。这种测试将对设备级别的性能，成本和安全指标提供详细的了解，并有助于将这项技术推向商业可行性。 我们的培训模型旨在开发强大的企业家和创新生态系统。为此，将提供各种各样的活动（例如企业家培训，沟通技巧发展，风险支持，实习等），以帮助学生对研究的整体看法。拟议的项目旨在用锂离子电池中的替代品代替石墨阳极。我们建议以金属形式存储锂，而不是将锂原子存储在石墨宿主中，从而导致能量密度更高。但是，任何锂金属电池的致命弱鞋跟是树突的不受控制的生长，可以在电池上电力短路。我们建议通过利用一种新型方法来克服这一挑战，该方法涉及应用高电流密度的优化幅度（用于康复目的）以在电池中产生内部自热。这种受控的加热触发了锂在树突表面的巨大表面扩散，从而钝化了树突尖头并使锂金属表面平滑。 Our main objective is to demonstrate safe (i.e., dendrite-free) operation of high energy density and low cost Lithium-metal batteries in larger format pouch and cylindrical cells and perform detailed device level characterization.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.

项目成果

In situ healing of dendrites in a potassium metal battery

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1915470117
• 发表时间: 2020-03-17
• 期刊: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• 影响因子: 11.1
• 作者: Hundekar, Prateek;Basu, Swastik;Koratkar, Nikhil
• 通讯作者: Koratkar, Nikhil