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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 559 records · Page 31
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Lithium Metal Electrode — Understanding Its Unique Characteristics and Functions

Lithium metal electrode (LME) is attractive for the next generation of commercial high-energy rechargeable lithium battery (RLB) design and development. As a light element with a very reducing electrochemical potential, Li metal certainly has the unique characteristics that also present challenges for its application in RLBs. To overcome technical barriers with LME such as the dendrite formation that causes uneven current distributions, excessive SEI formation that consumes Li inventory, and formation of inactive Li metal in granular forms that induces safety hazards, more fundamental understanding of the unique characteristics of LME and its impact on functions in performance in RLBs is critical. Here, we present some recent work based on temporally-correlated reactive molecular dynamics simulations to understand the Li deposition and the associated nucleation and growth process on the LME or graphitic electrode surfaces. Such a study provides some intriguing perspectives on how Li reacts with electrolytes on LME and conventional graphitic electrodes in the RLB operation. Such an insight could help improving our strategy to deal with LME problems and provide functional improvements for LME’s application in RLBs. This presentation is dedicated to Professor Robert Huggins for his life-long teaching of the fundamentals on solid state ionics and its implications in understanding the electrochemical behavior of Li in RLB applications.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ultrahigh coulombic efficiency electrolyte enables Li||SPAN batteries with superior cycling performance

Raising the coulombic efficiency of lithium metal anode cycling is the deciding step in realizing long-life rechargeable lithium batteries. Here, we designed a highly concentrated salt/ether electrolyte diluted in a fluorinated ether: 1.8 M LiFSI in DEE/BTFE (diethyl ether/bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)ether), which realized an average coulombic efficiency of 99.37% at 0.5 mA cm -2 and 1 mAh cm -2 for more than 900 cycles. This electrolyte also maintained a record coulombic efficiency of 98.7% at 10 mA cm -2 , indicative of its ability to provide fast-charging with high cathode loadings. Morphological studies reveal dense, dendrite free Li depositions after prolonged cycling, while surface analyses confirmed the formation of a robust LiF-rich SEI layer on the cycled Li surface. Moreover, we discovered that this ether-based electrolyte is highly compatible with the low-cost, high-capacity SPAN (Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile) cathode, where the constructed Li||SPAN cell exhibited reversible cathode capacity of 579 mAh g -1 and no capacity decay after 1200 cycles. A cell where a high areal loading SPAN electrode (>3.5 mAh cm -2 ) is paired with only onefold excess Li was constructed and cycled at 1.75 mA cm -2 , maintaining a coulombic efficiency of 99.30% for the lithium metal. Computational simulations revealed that at saturation, the Li-FSI complex forms contact ion pairs, with a first solvation shell comprising DEE molecules, and a second solvation shell with a mix of DEE/BTFE. This study provides a path to enable high energy density Li||SPAN batteries with stable cycling.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Novel materials for renewable energy

The objectives of this work are to (1) develop highly active and stable electrocatalyst electrodes with high O 2 /Cl 2 specificity for seawater splitting (2) understand the catalyst property and catalytic pathway in seawater splitting by spectroscopic tools. (3) develop novel cathode materials for rechargeable aluminum ion battery and (4) fundamental understanding of the battery reaction and side reaction mechanisms in rechargeable aluminum ion battery.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1985

Development of a lithium secondary battery separator

A nonporous membrane based on the polymerization of 2,3-dihydrofuran followed by crosslinking in situ was prepared. The material is compatible with rechargeable Li battery components and, when swollen with an appropriate solvent such as tetrahydrofuran, exhibits separator resistance and Li transport equivalent to Celgard.

Moore, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A Review of Sodium-Metal Chloride Battery Activity At JPL

Following the disclosures by Coetzer et al. on the use of transition metal chlorides in chloroaluminates as alternate cathodes to sulfur in rechargeable sodium batteries, several laboratories, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, focused their attention on these systems. These systems have certain distinct advantages over sodium-sulfur batteries such as increased safety, inherent overcharge capability, and lower operating temperatures. Two systems, i.e., Na/FeCl2 and NaNiCl2, were developed extensively and evaluated in various applications including electric vehicles and space. Their performance has been very encouraging and warrants a detailed fundamental study on these cathodes. At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory a program was initiated two years back to understand the electrochemical behavior of FeCl2 and NiCl2, and to identify and evaluate other transition metal chlorides of promise. The initial efforts focused on the methods of fabrication of the electrodes and their electrochemical characterization. Subsequent studies were aimed at establishing the reaction mechanism, determining the kinetics, and identifying the rate-limiting processes in te reduction of metal chloride cathodes. Nickel chloride emerged form these studies as the most promising candidate material and was taken up for further detailed study on its passivation- a rate limiting process-under different experimental conditions. Also, the feasibility of using copper chloride, which is expected to have a higher energy density, has been assessed. On the basis of the criteria established from the voltammetric response of FeCl2, NiCl2, and CuCl2, several other transition metal chlorides were screened. Of these, molybdenum and cobalt appear promising.

Ratnakumar, B. V.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Electrodes with fiber structure

An electrode framework with a fiber structure, universally applicable in alkaline storage battery systems, was developed and readied for production. Storage batteries with these electrodes present higher energy and power densities and are economical to produce. The design is applicable to all rechargable storage batteries and might replace the previous variety of designs.

Benczur-Uermoessy, G.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dynamic tunability of phase-change material transition temperatures using ions for thermal energy storage

Thermal energy storage (TES) based on phase-change materials (PCMs) has many current and potential applications, such as climate control in buildings, thermal management for batteries and electronics, thermal textiles, and transportation of pharmaceuticals. Despite its promise, the adoption of TES has been limited, in part due to limited tunability of the transition temperature, which hinders TES performance for varying use temperatures. Transition temperature tuning of a material using an external stimulus, such as pressure or an electric field, typically requires very large stimuli. To circumvent this problem, here, we report on the dynamic transition temperature tunability of a PCM using ions. We achieve a transition temperature tunability up to 6°C in polyethylene glycol (PEG) by using the salt lithium oxalatodifluoroborate at a low voltage of 2.5 V, which may enable simpler and safer devices/system designs. We also explain the thermal properties of the salt/PCM solution using the Flory-Huggins theory.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS2018

Simplified Aid for Extra-Vehicular Activity Rescue (SAFER) Battery Assessment

In 2013, the Boeing Company model 787-8 Dreamliner commercial aircraft experienced three catastrophic lithium (Li) battery failures. The cause of each failure resulted in a single-cell thermal runaway (TR) condition, which propagated to adjacent battery cells. Two of the failures involved rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries, and the third event involved a nonrechargeable lithium-manganese dioxide (Li-MnO2) battery. In response to these Li battery failures, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) approved a technical assessment of the International Space Station Simplified Aid for Extra-Vehicular Activity Rescue (SAFER) Li non-rechargeable battery. This assessment was conducted to evaluate the SAFER Li nonrechargeable battery safety design features against Boeing 787 Dreamliner Li battery failure lessons learned. Specifically, this investigation focused on assessing the severity of a SAFER battery TR hazard conditions.

Iannello, Christopher J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating Material Design Principles for Calcium-Ion Mobility in Intercalation Cathodes

Multivalent-ion batteries offer an alternative to Li-based technologies, with the potential for greater sustainability, improved safety, and higher energy density, primarily due to their rechargeable system featuring a passivating metal anode. Although a system based on the Ca 2+ /Ca couple is particularly attractive given the low electrochemical plating potential of Ca 2+ , the remaining challenge for a viable rechargeable Ca battery is to identify Ca cathodes with fast ion transport. In this work, a high-throughput computational pipeline is adapted to (1) discover novel Ca cathodes in a largely unexplored space of empty intercalation hosts and (2) develop material design rules for Ca-ion mobility. One candidate from the screening, W 2 O 3 (PO 4 ) 2 , is confirmed to have a low Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) barrier of 168 meV within a one-dimensional (1D) ion percolation topology. This candidate is subsequently synthesized and electrochemically tested, achieving reversible Ca cycling with a capacity of 25 mA h/g. To further accelerate the screening for promising Ca intercalation electrodes, machine learning (ML) Random Forest (RF) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB) classification models are created with local environment descriptors based on a large, structurally and chemically diverse dataset of minimum energy pathways, spanning over 5,000 density functional theory (DFT) site energy calculations. Accuracies of 92% are achieved, material design metrics are quantified, ML force-fields are leveraged in an accelerated iteration of the screening, and a total of 27 novel Ca cathode materials are highlighted for further investigation.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Simultaneously Integrating Single Atomic Cobalt Sites and Co 9 S 8 Nanoparticles into Hollow Carbon Nanotubes as Trifunctional Electrocatalysts for Zn–Air Batteries to Drive Water Splitting

The development of rechargeable metal–air batteries and water electrolyzers are highly constrained by electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the construction of efficient trifunctional electrocatalysts for ORR/OER/HER are highly desirable yet challenging. Herein, hollow carbon nanotubes integrated single cobalt atoms with Co9S8 nanoparticles (CoSA + Co 9 S 8 /HCNT) are fabricated by a straightforward in situ self-sacrificing strategy. The structure of the CoSA + Co 9 S 8 /HCNT are verified by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. Theoretical calculations and experimental results embrace the synergistic effects between Co 9 S 8 nanoparticles and single cobalt atoms through optimizing the electronic configuration of the CoN4 active sites to lower the reaction barrier and facilitating the ORR, OER, and HER simultaneously. Consequently, rechargeable liquid and all-solid-state flexible Zn–air batteries based on CoSA + Co 9 S 8 /HCNT exhibit remarkable stability and excellent power density of 177.33 and 51.85 mW cm -2 , respectively, better than Pt/C + RuO 2 counterparts. Moreover, the as-fabricated Zn–air batteries can drive an overall water splitting device assembled with CoSA + Co 9 S 8 /HCNT and achieve a current density of 10 mA cm -2 at a low voltage of 1.59 V, also superior to Pt/C + RuO 2 . Therefore, we conclude, this work presents a promising approach to an efficient trifunctional electrocatalyst toward practical applications.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Al 2 O 3 Thin Films on Magnesium: Assessing the Impact of an Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase

Among the many emerging technologies under investigation as alternatives to the successful Lithium-ion battery, the magnesium battery is promising due to the wide availability of magnesium, its high volumetric capacity, and the possibility for safety improvements. One of the largest challenges facing rechargeable magnesium batteries is the formation of a passivation layer at the Mg metal anode interface when reactive species in the electrolyte are reduced at the electrode-electrolyte interface. To control the solid electrolyte interphase in Lithium batteries, protective layers called artificial solid electrolyte interphase (ASEI) layers have been successful in improving Li metal anode performance. The approach of protecting Mg metal anodes from electrolyte degradation has been demonstrated by fewer studies in the literature than Li systems. In this work, we discuss the properties of Al 2 O 3 thin films deposited using atomic layer deposition as an artificial solid electrolyte interphase at the Mg anode. Our results demonstrate that Al 2 O 3 does prevent electrolyte degradation due to the reductive nature of Mg. However, undesirable properties such as defects and layer breakdown lead to Mg growth that causes soft-shorting. The soft-shorting occurs with and without the protection layer, indicating the ALD layer does not prevent it and hinders Al 2 O 3 from being an ideal candidate for a protection layer. Crucial effects of this layer on Mg electrochemistry at the interface were observed, including growth of Mg deposits leading to soft-shorting of the cell whose morphology showed a dependence on the Al 2 O 3 layer. These results may provide guidelines for the future design and development of protective ASEI layers for Mg anodes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1993

Gelled Electrolytes For Lithium Batteries

Gelled polymer electrolyte consists of polyacrylonitrile (PAN), LiBF4, and propylene carbonate (PC). Thin films of electrolyte found to exhibit stable bulk conductivities of order of 10 to the negative 3rd power S/cm at room temperature. Used in thinfilm rechargeable lithium batteries having energy densities near 150 W h/kg.

Nagasubramanian, Ganesan↗
NASA NTRS2006

Battery Control Boards for Li-Ion Batteries on Mars Exploration Rovers

Rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries have been operating successfully on both Spirit and Opportunity rovers for the last two years, which includes six months of Assembly Launch and Test Operations (ATLO), seven months of cruise and about eleven months of surface operations. The Battery Control Boards designed and fabricated in-house would protect cells against overcharge and over-discharge and provide cell balance. Their performance has thus far been quite satisfactory. The ground data o the mission simulation battery project little capacity loss of less than 3% during cruise and 180 sols. Batteries are poised to extend the mission beyond six months, if not a couple of years.

Ewell, R.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Constraint-Based Off-Nominal Behavior Modeling for Europa Clipper

The risk analysis for the Europa Clipper mission evaluates the probability of mission failure based on the failure rates of individual components and dependencies among them. The probabilities are calculated by integrating over the intervals of time within which a fault occurs, accounting for an infinite number of cases. The response of the spacecraft to different faults can result in different schedules of activities, changing the intervals of integration. Europa currently uses models of spacecraft systems and components to simulate individual flight scenarios. The goal is to develop a framework for integrating, automating, and improving this modeling process. We describe an approach to generating the schedules for the different fault cases and determining the intervals for faults. It is not enough to just simulate individual cases because we are working with continuous variables that generate an infinite number of possible futures. Instead, we determine time windows within which certain faults can occur and use these time windows as bounds for integration. We found that determining these time windows is a constraint optimization problem. In order to represent these problems, we employ a language based on ontologies of behavior and scenarios. The language enables us to specify constraints in a simple, declarative syntax. A constraint-based analysis engine uses the declarative specification to identify bounds on system parameters and fill in details of behavior. For example, we created a detailed model of power generation, power use, and the corresponding effects on the battery in order to determine when an undervoltage fault can occur. An undervoltage during a trajectory correction maneuver requires that thrusting be interrupted for just enough time to recharge the battery such that the maneuver can be completed within battery limits. This behavior is generated based on the model to minimize the interruption time. For certain scenarios the constraint optimization problems were simple enough to be solved by hand, but the framework made the process substantially faster. It also produced solutions to other problems that we could not solve by hand or with existing tools and allowed us to generate and run many scenarios at once. The scenario language and engine greatly simplified the process of identifying time bounds and separating cases.

Everline, Chester J.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cycling protocol for alkaline batteries

A method of operating a battery comprises discharging a cathode comprising manganese dioxide to within a 2nd electron capacity of the manganese dioxide at a C-rate of equal to or slower than C/10, recharging the battery, and cycling the battery during use a plurality of times. The cathode is in a battery, and the battery comprises the cathode, an anode, a separator disposed between the anode and the cathode, and an electrolyte. The cathode comprises the manganese dioxide and a conductive carbon. The anode comprises: a metal component and a conductive carbon. The metal component can be a metal, metal oxide, or metal hydroxide, and the metal of the metal component can be zinc, lithium, aluminum, magnesium, iron, cadmium and a combination thereof.

Kolhekar, Snehal↗
NASA NTRS1973

Wind power demonstration and siting problems

Technical and economic feasibility studies on a small windmill to provide overnight charging for an electrically driven car are reported. The auxiliary generator provides power for heating and cooling the vehicle which runs for 25 miles on battery power alone, and for 50 miles with the onboard charger operating. The blades for this windmill have a diameter of 12 feet and are coupled through to a conventional automobile alternator so that they are able to completely recharge car batteries in 8 hours. Optimization of a windmill/storage system requires detailed wind velocity information which permits rational sitting of wind power system stations.

Bergey, K. H.↗
DOE OSTI2021

MoS 2 for beyond lithium-ion batteries

As a typical transition-metal chalcogenide material, molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) has received tremendous attention because of its unique layered structure and versatile chemical, electronic, and optical properties. With the focus of this Perspective on the energy storage area, one of the most important contributions of MoS 2 is that it sparked the birth of the rechargeable lithium battery in the early 1980s, which later formed the foundation of commercial lithium batteries. After four decades, admitting that MoS 2 is still playing a significant role in the lithium-ion battery field and considerable effort was made to decipher the mechanism through ex situ and in situ studies and by means of MoS 2 nanostructure engineering that advances the lithium battery performance, it is also used in beyond lithium-ion batteries, such as sodium, magnesium, calcium, and aluminum energy storage systems. Such alternative battery systems are desirable because of the safety concerns of lithium and the depletion of lithium reserves and corresponding increase in cost. In this Perspective, recent development on the fabrication of novel MoS 2 nanostructures was discussed, followed by the scrutinization of their application in beyond lithium-ion batteries and the in situ/operando methods involved in these studies. Finally, a brief summary and outlook that may help with the future advancement of the beyond lithium-ion batteries are presented.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗