US Army missions require a safe, long-cycle-life lithium batterythat is rechargeable, efficient and reliable for powering electronics forfuture soldier systems applications. A solid polymer electrolyte forlithium batteries will allow placement of the electrodes in closeproximity, bipolar cell construction, and retardation of undesirablechemical reactions to meet US Army requirements for the secondary Libatteries which can potentially deliver an energy density of 200 Wh/kg anda power density of 40 W/kg. This R&D program focuses on the synthesis ofnovel organic salts, and polymer electrolytes based on these salts toachieve a structure of improved Li+ ion conductivity. Such a polymericseparator is expected to be stable in the chosen Li/MnO2 cell chemistry.The program objectives also include developing Li-intercalation cathodesand testing these components in a flat configuration to demonstrate thefeasibility of a high energy density, compact yet safe, secondary lithiumbattery to meet the space mission requirements. The Phase I program willconcentrate upon the development of a novel stable solid polymerelectrolyte, which is a host structure to a high conductivity medium forLi+ ions and to demonstrate the feasibility of improved Li/MnO2 cells usingthese polymer electrolytes. The Phase II efforts will be devoted to thedevelopment of Li-insertion anodes, high voltage cathodes, design,fabrication, and testing of battery prototypes which will utilize the newhigh conductivity polymer electrolytes for mission-specific US Armyapplications.
