DOE Awards nGimat SBIR Contract for Optimized Li-ion Anode Materials

16 July 2008

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded nGimat a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant of $99,986 to develop nano-engineered anodes for high-performance Li-ion batteries for next-generation hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs).

In liquid-electrolyte lithium-ion battery systems, such as those being developed for electric and hybrid electric vehicles, the anodes react with the lithium metal, causing the formation of a reaction layer that reduces the cycle life of the battery. Efforts to coat the anode and cathode with a non-reactive solid electrolyte within the liquid system have yielded some improvements in cycling behavior; however, the vacuum equipment used in the coating process is cost-prohibitive.

Solid electrolyte-anode nanocomposites could improve the charge transfer kinetics and rate capability by using an active material with smaller particle size and creating strong anode-electrolyte interfaces.

The nGimat project is to develop combustion synthesis methods for producing both anode and electrolyte materials in a single nanopowder composite materials structure.

In the Phase I effort, nGimat will develop a family of metal-oxide based anode materials that will be optimized for power density. A combinatorial approach will be employed for the rapid electrochemical screening of composition/material structures, in order to establish the appropriate structure-function relationships.

The performance of these materials will be demonstrated in prototype batteries. Potential Phase II and Phase III programs would focus on scaling up production of the nanomaterials, developing larger Lithium-ion batteries and developing strategic alliances with our customer industry partners.

nGimat has developed a NanoSpray combustion process that is able to produce multi-component nanomaterials with controlled properties (crystallinity, size, morphology), and the technique possesses inherent scalability of the spray processing method (from kgs to tons).