This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a new method and reactor for continuous and large-scale production of titania and other related metal oxide nanowires. Inexpensive micron scale metal oxide and spherically shaped powders will be converted to nanowires using a plasma oxidation scheme. The fast reaction time (on the order of minutes) of this process will allow the development of a reactor for continuous production of nanowire powders.
The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to provide a process and reactor for the production of nanowire-based materials in large volume. Titania and manganese oxide nanowire powders will find commercial applications in lithium-ion batteries for transportation and large-scale storage. Ceria and titania nanowire powders may also be used in catalysis, paints, light-weight and optical composite materials etc.
Abstract This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposed to develop a new method and reactor for continuous and large-scale production of titania and other related metal oxide nanowires. This project focused on converting inexpensive micron scale metal oxide and spherically shaped powders to nanowires using a plasma oxidation scheme. The fast reaction time of this process allowed for the development of a reactor for continuous production of nanowire powders. The titania and manganese oxide nanowire powders will find commercial applications in lithium-ion batteries for transportation and large-scale storage. Ceria and titania nanowire powders may also be used in catalysis, paints, light-weight and optical composite materials, etc. Technical Outcomes In this project, the Advanced Energy Materials (AdEM) has developed a break-through technology, SolvoPlasmaTM, for nanomaterial’s production. The SolvoPlasmaTM process converts inexpensive and abundant metal oxide powders into one-dimensional, semiconducting materials via rapid oxidation in a plasma discharge operated at atmospheric conditions. The technology is generic and has been proven to work with a wide variety of metal oxide systems. These nanomaterials will outperform those in commercial use by orders of magnitude in a variety of energy conversion and storage applications. Some of the highlights of technical outcomes include the following: The proposed SolvoPlasmaTM concept is demonstrated toward a generic manufacturing technology for titania, manganese oxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, and related metal oxide nanowires and nanomaterials. Preliminary tests indicated that the produced titania and related metal oxide nanowires exhibit good properties with capacity and cyclability in lithium ion batteries. The project yielded a reactor technology for scale-up of manufacturing of various metal oxide nanowire powders. Commercial Outcomes Advanced Energy Materials, LLC (AdEM) has emerged has the only commercial supplier of nanowire powders in a variety of metals. AdEM has already started to supply custom nanowire powders to a few industrial customers for a variety of applications like anode material for lithium-ion batteries and hydro desulfurization catalysts. AdEM has demonstrated and patented nanowires that yield high capacity retention (four times better what is commercially available) with good durability. AdEM recognizes two important applications with huge market opportunity for its materials: the lithium-ion battery and ultra-capacitor markets. AdEM’s materials and process innovations are necessary to our customers because of their need to lower manufacturing costs and improve the performance of materials used. Innovations in materials and processes can have disruptive impact on the large format batteries and capacitors toward automotive and grid-scale storage applications. AdEM also has an exclusive license agreement with University of Louisville that includes a patent portfolio of 10 patents. NSF Phase-1 grant has attracted an invested from Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation in the form of an SBIR matching grant.
