DOE OSTI2015
The global demand for rechargeable batteries is large and growing rapidly. Assuming the adoption of electric vehicles continues to increase, the need for smaller, lighter, and less expensive batteries will become even more pressing. In this vein, PolyPlus Battery Company has developed ultra-light high performance batteries based on its proprietary protected lithium electrode (PLE) technology. The Company’s Lithium-Air and Lithium-Seawater batteries have already demonstrated world record performance (verified by third party testing), and we are developing advanced lithium-sulfur batteries which have the potential deliver high performance at low cost. In this program PolyPlus Battery Company teamed with Corning Incorporated to transition the PLE technology from bench top fabrication using manual tooling to a pre- commercial semi-automated pilot line. At the inception of this program PolyPlus worked with a Tier 1 battery manufacturing engineering firm to design and build the first-of-its-kind pilot line for PLE production. The pilot line was shipped and installed in Berkeley, California several months after the start of the program. PolyPlus spent the next two years working with and optimizing the pilot line and now produces all of its PLEs on this line. The optimization process successfully increased the yield, throughput, and quality of PLEs produced on the pilot line. The Corning team focused on fabrication and scale-up of the ceramic membranes that are key to the PLE technology. PolyPlus next demonstrated that it could take Corning membranes through the pilot line process to produce state-of-the-art protected lithium electrodes. In the latter part of the program the Corning team developed alternative membranes targeted for the large rechargeable battery market. PolyPlus is now in discussions with several potential customers for its advanced PLE-enabled batteries, and is building relationships and infrastructure for the transition into manufacturing. It is likely that the next step will be accomplished through a combination of joint venture partnering and licensing of the technology.