This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is developing ultra-thick lithium-ion electrodes to reduce the production cost and enhance the manufacturability of advanced lithium-ion batteries. The manufacturing approach in use today for lithium-ion batteries uses an expensive process for depositing delicate, sub-millimeter electrode films, making the advanced chemistry cost-prohibitive in many applications. This proposal is for the development of engineered-porosity electrodes that enable high volume lithium-ion battery production with simpler deposition methods. Major cost savings can be achieved in both cell material costs and manufacturing capital investment. This project will study the role of composite electrode composition, pore structure, total porosity, and electrode thickness, in building robust commercial-scale electrodes. Understanding the interplay of these engineering variables will result in the laboratory production of large-format lithium-ion battery cells meeting the power and lifetime requirements for near-term commercial deployment.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to develop low-cost manufacturing processes that will disrupt the cost curve of lithium-ion battery production, enabling widespread adoption in large, price-sensitive markets. Furthermore, successful efforts will advance the science of thick electrode architectures and promote structure-based engineering approaches to lithium-ion electrodes that complement current work on advanced materials. Lowering the manufactured cost of lithium-ion cells opens up new opportunities in markets, which include segments of existing deep-cycle lead-acid battery markets, totaling $1.4B, and emerging applications in grid-level distributed energy storage, with $7B of potential in the US alone. In lead-acid replacement applications, this technology will reduce opportunities for lead to reach landfills. In emerging applications on the grid, economical, long-life batteries can help build a more flexible electrical distribution network and enable increased renewable energy integration. As this technology is chemistry-agnostic, it will also be able to exploit future improvements in lithium-ion chemistry. This flexible platform of energy, labor, and capital efficient production will contribute greatly to the American advanced battery manufacturing base.
The work supported by the NSF SBIR Phase I grant was aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of building long life lithium-ion batteries with engineered electrodes that are up to 10-fold thicker than conventional electrodes. The appeal of these ultra-thick electrodes is that it will lead to lower costs of production for lithium-ion batteries. This, in turn, would address one of the primary downsides of lithium-ion batteries - their high price. The challenge to making a long life lithium-ion battery with thick electrodes is that they have trouble providing usable amounts of power and they also tend fail quicker due to accelerated chemical and mechanical degradation inside the battery. Solving these challenges requires careful engineering of the electrode's microstructure. Solving the challenge in a way that can be rapidly produced in a commercial production environment without adding extra costs into the battery makes the project that much tougher. Researchers at Ballast Energy believe they have a way to do just that and have pursued R&D on their proprietary ultra-thick electrode technology with funding from the NSF SBIR program. The resulting outcomes are very positive, and the technology feasibility study was a success. The team was able to produce lithium-ion battery cells using ultra-thick anodes and cathodes and were able observe cycling behavior that is on par with a normal lithium-ion battery. That means that the thickness of the electrode did not increase the rate of failure, as one might fear. Furthermore, the batteries provided good charge and discharge rates that make them useful for a wide range of applications. Another element of the Phase 1 work was to show that the technology could be used to make large batteries. It's one thing to make a laboratory absraction, but the SBIR program is intended for eventual commercialization of the supported technology. Here again, the reserach team was able to take its unique way of building these ultra-thick electrodes and rapidly scale the process to produce large, 4"x6" cells. The Phase 1 program was a success and the findings will be applied within the company to drive the continued development of its technology. Ballast Energy would like to acknowledge the NSF Small Business Innovation Research program for helping early stage companies like itself to develop advanced technologies.
