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

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY

Investigators

Abstract

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.