TOPIC 1: ENHANCED POWER GENERATION AND STORAGE THIS EFFORT PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A LIGHTWEIGHT 1U CUBESAT (10X10X10 CM) ENHANCED WITH INTEGRATED STRUCTURAL BATTERY MATERIALS. WITH STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS BEING COMPRISED OF GRAPHITIC AND CARBON FIBER MATERIALS IN AN ELECTROLYTIC POLYMER THE MULTIFUNCTIONAL HYBRID BATTERY-CAPACITOR ENERGY SYSTEM CAN SERVE AS BOTH A LIGHTWEIGHT LOAD BEARING STRUCTURE AND AN ELECTROCHEMICAL BATTERY SYSTEM THUS EXTENDING PAYLOAD AND RANGE CAPABILITIES WHILE REDUCING TOTAL MASS. TWO MAIN EFFORTS WILL BE REQUIRED: 1) ADAPTATION OF THE STRUCTURAL AND ELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE CURRENTLY DEVELOPED BENCH-LEVEL STRUCTURAL BATTERY TECHNOLOGY AND 2) INTEGRATION INTO CURRENT CUBESAT DESIGNS OR REDESIGNED SYSTEMS. THE TEAM WILL BE COMPRISED OF TWO FACULTY TWO GRADUATE STUDENTS AND TWO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AS WELL AS COLLABORATION WITH NASA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (KSC). MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT ELECTRO-MECHANICAL TESTING AND ASSEMBLY WILL OCCUR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI. NASA KSC THERMAL VACUUM CHAMBER TESTING WILL SIMULATE A SERVICE ENVIRONMENT WHILE MEASURING POWER AND ENERGY METRICS OF THE CUBESAT STRUCTURAL BATTERY SYSTEM. (POTENTIAL FOLLOW-ON EFFORTS WILL INVOLVE LOW ORBIT LAUNCH UNDER THE CUBESAT LAUNCH INITIATIVE WHILE A GROUND STATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI WILL BE EMPLOYED FOR COMMUNICATION.) THIS PROJECT TOPIC IS SIGNIFICANTLY ALIGNED WITH NASA TA 3: SPACE POWER AND ENERGY STORAGE AND TA 12: MATERIALS STRUCTURES MECHANICAL SYSTEMS AND MANUFACTURING SECTIONS 1-3 AS A CROSS-CUTTING TECHNOLOGY FOR ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE MATERIALS. MEDIATOR-ENABLED ELECTROLYTIC POLYMERS AND MEDIATOR-ENABLED FIBER ELECTRODES ARE KEY TO BREAKING THROUGH THE TECHNOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE PROHIBIT SOLID-STATE STRUCTURAL BATTERY AND SUPERCAPACITOR CONCEPTS. "MEDIATORS" ARE REDOX MOLECULES WITH A FAST EXCHANGE RATE. WHEN MEDIATORS ARE INCORPORATED INTO A POLYMER ELECTROLYTE WITH CARBON NANOTUBES OR CARBON FIBERS TO FORM A POROUS ELECTRODE THE MEDIATORS ENABLE FAST ELECTRON TRANSFER AND IONIC CONDUCTIVITY IN A WIDE TEMPERATURE RANGE. THUS AS ENABLED BY THE DESIGNED ADDITION OF MEDIATORS A STRUCTURAL SUPERCAPACITOR (OR HYBRID CAPACITOR/BATTERY) FUNCTIONS SIMILARLY TO A STANDARD ELECTRIC BATTERY BUT STRONG STIFF CARBON FIBERS ACT AS THE ELECTRODES (TERMINALS) WHILE BUNDLED WITHIN AN ELECTROLYTIC STRUCTURAL POLYMER ALLOWING ELECTRON FLOW AND COLLECTION. THE MATERIAL PERFORMS AS A STRONG LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURAL CARBON FIBER COMPOSITE AND AS AN AUXILIARY/RESERVE ELECTRICAL ENERGY SYSTEM. MULTI-SCALE MULTI-PHYSICS (MECHANICAL ELECTRICAL THERMAL) STRUCTURAL SIMULATION AND DESIGN EFFORTS WILL BE UTILIZED TO MAXIMIZE THE LOAD CAPACITY AND ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE OF EACH MATERIAL AND OF THE TOTAL MATERIAL SYSTEM. SIMULATIONS WILL INVOLVE THE ANALYSIS OF PANEL STIFFNESS AND STRENGTH FOR VARIOUS COMPOSITE LAYUP CONFIGURATIONS AND/OR MATERIAL SUBSTITUTIONS INCLUDING INTERSTITIAL HONEYCOMB CORE DESIGN FOR STIFFNESS. THESE SIMULATIONS WILL ALSO INVESTIGATE CURRENT DISTRIBUTION FOR VARIOUS MATERIAL SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF MECHANICAL AND THERMAL LOADING WITH A FOCUS ON PREVENTION OF ELECTRICAL SHORTS DURING BENDING AND ON TOLERANCE OF THE EFFECTS OF POTENTIAL DAMAGE. DEVELOPMENT OF THE STRUCTURAL BATTERY MATERIAL SYSTEMS WILL YIELD MULTIPLE GAINS INCLUDING GENERATION OF ADDITIONAL ENERGY REDUCTION OF MASS BY EMPLOYING A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF MATERIAL IN A MULTI-FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURAL/POWER SYSTEM ROLE AND THE INHERENT LIGHTWEIGHTING OF EMPLOYING CARBON COMPOSITE MATERIALS. THE GENERATED AUXILIARY POWER WILL BE CAPABLE OF POWERING ON-BOARD CONTROL AND SENSOR ELECTRONICS FOR THE CUBESAT. LIGHTWEIGHTING IS CRITICAL FOR TRANSPORTATION AND SPACE SYSTEMS WHILE AUXILIARY ENERGY AVAILABILITY IS A KEY ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR ELECTRONICS AND SENSOR SYSTEMS AS WELL AS EFFECTIVE FLIGHT TIME AND RANGE REQUIREMENTS.